Average Amity
by The Silver Suzi
Summary: Kristina Carey has always thought of Amity Park as an ordinary city. But weird things have been happening, and she’s started to think otherwise. Better summary and explanation inside.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Kristina Carey has lived in Amity Park almost her entire life, and always used to think of it as an ordinary city, not much different from any other regular place in the world. But recently, weird things have been happening, and she's started to think otherwise. A collection of stories from Kris's point of view, about the weird incidents she and her friends and family experience.

Author's Note: This is my first fanfic… ever. So forgive me if I seem like I've got no idea what I'm doing, 'cause I kinda… don't. I've read lots of fanfiction before; I just never got around to writing any myself until now.

I got inspiration for this fic while waiting for The Ultimate Enemy (which rocked, by the way) to air for the first time. I started thinking about what things must be like for the citizens of Amity Park that don't know much about ghosts, and therefore don't really understand what's going on a lot of the time. I thought the most about the other students of Casper High. Eventually an idea popped into existence in my head, started to grow, and here I am. Giving you a story from the point of view of a normal teenage girl, about her life in Amity Park around the time things started to get weird.

I'm not entirely sure how many chapters this will have (very possibly quite a few if things work out well.) Nor do I know how long each chapter will be, or how often I'll be able to update. I do, however, have an idea of where I'm going with this.

Now, don't worry. Kristina will have no romantic relationship with Danny whatsoever, and I seriously doubt she'll come even close to finding out about his secret (doesn't mean she won't find him odd and suspicious though.) Please review afterwards with your thoughts on the story, I'd absolutely love to hear about what you liked and didn't like. And I'd especially love any suggestions you may have. Flames are accepted, everyone's got a right to their own opinion. Well, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom, or anything related to the series. And I don't honestly want to. I rather enjoy being a crazed fan who obsesses over the show non-stop. However, Kristina, her family, and friends are mine.

* * *

"Kristina! Hurry and get up, you're going to be late… for… school…" Mom's franticly shouted warning trailed off as she opened my bedroom door to find me laid back comfortably on a neatly made bed, dressed, light brown hair combed, history book in hands. "Oh. You're already up." 

I couldn't help but smile at her surprised look. "Yes, Mom. I've been up for two hours." My book made a deep snapping sound as I shut it quickly and slid off the bed. "You slept through your alarm clock again, didn't you?" I asked, folding my arms across my chest and smirking. Her hair hung flat against her head from the weight of water left over from her morning shower. Apparently, she'd been in such a hurry she'd forgotten to dry it. As a result, the collar of her shirt was soaked from drops that ran off the strands of thick brown hair. Her clothes were wrinkled and a bit twisted up, looking as if she'd thrown them on as fast as she possibly could, which was almost certainly the case.

She gave a small laugh, embarrassed at what a fool she was making herself look like, and shrugged. "Yes. I slept through my alarm again. Where's your brother? Is he up?"

"He's probably finishing breakfast. Come on, I saved you some pancakes." I walked past her through the doorway, headed down the stairs for our small kitchen.

"You made pancakes?" My mom asked, surprise present in her voice despite the fact that I've made breakfast almost every morning for the past several years. I just shook my head and laughed mentally at how scatterbrained she could be at times.

As I'd predicted, my ten-year-old brother was at the table shoving the last oversized bite of syrup smothered pancake into his mouth. "Mooreem mum" he said, and gulped down the remaining orange juice in his cup.

"What did he say?"

"He said, 'Morning, Mom'" I replied, taking his empty dishes and rinsing them in the sink.

She nodded and sat down, answering, "Morning Calvin. Don't talk with your mouth full." I set a plate of pancakes in front of her, and she smiled warmly. "These look great, sweetie. Wonderful job." After a glance at her wristwatch her expression changed to shock and worry. She quickly began to shovel bites into her mouth, and said, "Murry reer oheem ray!"

Calvin turned to me with a confused expression. "What did she say?"

"Hurry, we're going to be late!" I translated, quickly putting away the breakfast leftovers.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, Mom." Cal teased as he rushed off to get his backpack.

While my mother stuffed half her breakfast into her mouth in a very disgusting manner, I pulled her still very wet hair up into a neat bun. She swallowed the last bite whole and washed it down with the half a glass of milk she had left. "Thanks again, Kris. I don't know what I'd ever do without you." What she'd do without me? She'd go to work looking like she'd just been through a car wash, without a car. "Oh! I've got to work 'till around eleven tonight, so you're going to have to look after your brother again. Make sure to have him-"

"Do his homework, brush his teeth, eat his vegetables, and in bed by nine." I finished for her, slipping my dark blue backpack on. "I know the drill, Mom." I smiled again. She could be so funny sometimes.

"I know you do. Thank you."

Ten minutes of chaos later and we were all on our way. Mom kissed us each goodbye and headed off for work in our old car, (she's a nurse at the city hospital) and Cal and I started our walk for the bus stop.

"Mom's got to work late again tonight, so what do you want to do after school?" I asked my younger brother, ruffling his sandy blonde hair a bit.

He shrugged away from my hand and covered his head, signaling for me to stop. "Um…" He paused, pondering for a moment. His face lit up then, and he said, "Let's go to the park! Maybe I'll see that glowing thing again."

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "That again? Cal, I'm sure you just imagined that… whatever it was."

"No, it was real. I know it was. It was big and green, with glowing red eyes. I think it was going to attack, but instead it flew away. Then it disappeared." He insisted, retelling the same story I'd heard four or five times now.

I decided to play along. Last thing I'd need is for him to be angry with me, all over something he thought he saw three days ago at the park. "It flew away?"

"Yes. Then disappeared. I think it could turn invisible or something. Maybe it was an alien, or an escaped government experiment." He was rather excited. Little kids and their imaginations. "I think something was hunting it. Something that was also invisible."

That part was new. "Hunting it? You haven't mentioned that before." He was probably making it all up. The question was, why? Why did he decide to come home one day and make up this very weird story about escaped alien experiments? He hadn't done anything like it before. "How big was it?" I continued to play along. Or at least, I think I was still playing.

"A little taller than me. It probably wanted to eat me, or something. It flew off right after I saw it. Like I said, something was chasing it."

He probably could've gone on forever, but we'd reached the bus stop and he quickly ran off to meet is friends. Kids and teens of various ages waited on the sidewalk for the elementary, middle, and high school busses to arrive. I scanned the groups for a minute, my hazel eyes resting on two people, an Asian boy wearing a red hoodie and orange pants, and a Hispanic girl wearing a pink and orange outfit.

"Hey, Kris!" The girl called, waving me over.

"Hi, Teresa. Hey… Ben?" I greeted them both, but gave Benji a glance that basically meant 'What's with you?' He looked like he was about to have a nervous breakdown.

"Did you know there's a history test today?" He asked quickly, grabbing my shoulders.

"Uh, yes? Ms. Read has only been warning us about it for the past three weeks. Why?" I replied, though I had an idea of what his answer would be.

"I completely forgot to study! What am I going to do?" was his exasperated reply, just as I had suspected. "You guys have got to help me!"

Teresa raised an eyebrow. "Help you cram three chapters of history in thirty minutes? No thanks. It's not our fault you're conveniently busy whenever we invite you to our study parties." She reminded him. He opened his mouth to respond, but couldn't think of anything to say in his defense.

I laughed lightly, set my backpack on the ground and removed my history notebook. "Here, you can use my notes."

He gladly accepted them, giving a quick, "Thanks, Kris. You're a life saver." Then he immersed himself in the timelines, important names, outlines of different incidents, and other history related stuff written in the black notebook.

The bus for the elementary and middle school students pulled up to the curb, and all the five to thirteen year olds climbed on, leaving less than a third of the kids who'd been waiting there behind.

"So what are the plans for after school today?" Teresa asked starting up a new conversation while our forgetful friend was lost in his last minute, emergency, study session.

I sighed, watching the bus drive off and turn a corner. "I'm looking after my brother. Said I'd take him to the park. We could hang out there for a while, that is if you don't mind tagging along with my brother and I."

"Nah, that's fine with me." She shrugged. "Maybe Brad and Lexi will want to come along."

I flashed a teasing smile. "But especially Brad, right?"

She gave a playful glare, and retaliated. "Yeah. We might as well invite A.J. too, eh?"

I blushed and opened my mouth to respond, but Ben cut me off. "Girls." he scoffed. Teresa and I both rolled our eyes at his comment.

"Only twenty-six minutes left, Mr. Procrastinator." Teresa reminded him, pulling the subject away from his odd friend. This shut Ben up and he reburied himself in my history notes.

Two minutes later Casper High School bus seven stopped with a loud screeching and hissing, and all the ninth through twelfth graders that had been waiting for it climbed inside. I found an empty bench and slid next to the window, Teresa and Ben (still lost in his emergency study session) joined me.

I watched the scenery out the window as the bus began to move again, taking us past small houses, then apartment buildings, and then office buildings. As we went deeper into the city the structures got bigger.

I've lived in the city of Amity Park since I was around four years old. Seeing as I'm now fourteen, I've been here about ten or eleven years. It's a fairly normal town, average size, with average people going about their average lives. Nothing extremely interesting happens, at least not very often and… well you get the idea. Maybe that's why my mind was currently dwelling on what Cal and I had been talking about during the walk to the bus stop. What if he actually had seen something? Would that be good or bad? Assuming what he thinks he saw is real, what could it be? What scared it away? Where is it now?

"Kris? You haven't heard a single thing I've said the past five minutes, have you?" My mind snapped back to reality as Teresa's question sunk in.

"Huh?" I blinked, shook my head, and turned to her. "Oh I'm sorry. I must've spaced out a bit."

She gave me an odd look. "What were you thinking about?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow and breaking into a curious smile. "Or should I say, who were you thinking about?"

I stifled a laugh as I realized she thought I'd been daydreaming about a certain sophomore I happen to be crushing on. "Not A.J. if that's what your saying." She rolled her eyes in disbelief. "Actually, I was thinking about Calvin. He says he saw something weird the other day. I'm sure he's just making it up, but that's not like him. You know?"

"Weird, as in…?" She pressed.

"He claims to have seen some sort of glowing green monster thing in the park three days ago. That's why he wants to go back there today, to try and find it again."

"It's probably nothing to worry about. He's only ten." Teresa assured me.

"I don't know." Ben looked up from the notebook and turned to us. "I saw something like this in a movie once. It…"

Teresa interrupted him, "Oh, yeah. If you saw it in a movie then it MUST be real. It's not like movies are ever fake. Right?"

"Fine. Forget I said anything." Ben grumbled.

The bus pulled into the high school's parking lot, stopping in the slots reserved for unloading students. Everyone stepped out, headed for the school building to find their friends and prepare for homeroom. Ben returned my notebook, then left Teresa and I to try and get more cramming done in the library.

We stopped at my locker first, as it was closer. I spun the combination lock, yanked on the metal latch, and swung the lime green door open. As I emptied my backpack and removed the items I'd need for my first class, Teresa went on about some TV show she'd seen recently. I turned to check my mirror, and found an African American girl using it to inspect her make up.

I smirked. "Morning Lexi."

"Yeah, hi." was her quick response. She continued to mess with her hair and face, adding a fresh layer of gloss to her already smothered lips. "Listen, do you guys think I should get some colored contacts? I think my eye color may be a bit… plain."

I rolled my eyes, and I'm sure Teresa did the same. "You look fine, Lexi. In fact, I'm jealous of your big brown eyes. My hazel ones are so boring."

That did it. She smiled, drinking in the compliment and turning it into an unneeded confidence boost. "Yeah, they are great, aren't they? Oh, but don't worry, Kris. I think your eyes work well with that light, dusty brown hair of yours." As she said this, she tightened the bunch of extremely thick black hair stacked up in a half ponytail on her own head. "Well, I'll see you two at lunch. Bye." She said, running off down the hall and waving for someone to wait up. It's quite possible that our friend Alexandra, a.k.a. Lexi, knows everyone in school. Though she tends to hang around more with those in the higher social food chain groups. No, my friends and I aren't what would be considered 'popular' but I guess you could say we're pretty close. Lexi is the closest of us all. And though she may be fairly materialistic at times, and even a little ditzy, she is good friend.

I had been on my way to Teresa's locker to help her get her things ready, but we ran into another of our friends on the way. It's no secret that Bradley, or Brad as we call him, and Teresa have a thing for each other. So rather than stand around watching them flirt in the middle of the hallway, I said a goodbye (which of course went unnoticed) and headed for homeroom.

Casper High is, like the rest of this city, average. Teachers, students, desks, books, lockers, classrooms, and of course the Casper High Ravens. Our football team is no different from any other team, sometimes winning games, sometimes not. Is this sounding monotonous to you yet?

So yes, the school is just like any other, always has been, and always will be. Or at least that's what I'd thought up until lunch that day when I walked into the cafeteria and was greeted by a large banner reading 'This Week: Ultra Recyclo-Vegetarian.' Now that's something different.

"What is this garbage?" Ben wined, poking a pile of what looked like, and very possibly was, mud.

"Looks like dirt to me." Brad answered, inspecting Ben's plate.

"I can't believe this." Lexi began to complain as well. "They're going to make us eat this junk all week! What are they thinking?"

My four friends and I sat staring at the odd dishes we'd been given in the lunch line. I glanced at the upset looks on all their faces, and forced a smile. "Come on guys, it's not so bad." I lifted my meal, which appeared to be a slice of bread with grass growing on it, and took a bite. Trying to keep a straight face as I swallowed, I continued my attempt to cheer them all up. "It tastes just like a… uh… Like some…" It was hopeless, I couldn't think of a single good thing to relate the rather unpleasant taste to. My face fell. "Alright, it's nasty."

Well, at least I'd managed to amuse them. They each chuckled at my reaction, and then changed the subject to some movie coming out soon. I sighed and let my eyes wander through the lunchroom, glancing at the different faces. My eyes landed on one and stopped their search.

The slightly freckled face of Aron Joseph Hanson, also known as A.J., was the one I looked at. Or rather stared at. My stomach did a few jumping jacks as I lost myself in his blue eyes and the strands of red hair that hung out from under his blue baseball hat. I could've watched him for the rest of lunch, having lost my appetite after that single bite of grossness. However, the elbow being jammed playfully into my side interrupted my thoughts.

"Staring at A.J. again, eh Kris?" Teresa teased.

I blushed and opened my mouth, but Lexi interrupted me. "Why don't you just talk to him already? It's not like he's going to bite. He's actually a nice guy. I'd be after him too, but he's not really my type."

"Uh, thanks Lexi." I replied uncertainly.

Teresa looked as if she were about to add something, but never got the chance. Everyone's attention was jerked to the other side of the cafeteria as a loud voice shouted over everything else.

"FENTON!"

Naturally, I turned to see what was going on. Standing near the front of the cafeteria was a very angry looking blonde haired boy in a letterman jacket. Dash Baxter, quarterback for the Ravens, most popular guy in the 9th grade (and quite possibly the whole school) and honestly, a bit of a jerk. He was holding a plate with three piles of the same dirt/mud stuff Ben had ordered, and glaring daggers at someone in the middle of the room. I redirected my own eyes to the person he was looking at, and almost all my curiosity left again. Dash was glaring at Danny Fenton, a boy often targeted by the bullies at Casper High.

"Just Dash and Danny again." I said, half to myself, half to my friends. I turned back to my unwanted lunch, just staring at it as I listened to Dash blame Danny and his 'girlfriend' for the change in menu. Of course, Danny and Samantha Manson both denied that Sam was his girlfriend, which was followed by Dash threatening Danny and blah, blah, blah. It was the same routine as any other time.

That is until Danny took Dash's plate of mud and threw it at the quarterback with a shout. "GARBAGE FIGHT!" Yeah, that part was new.

New is good. Especially when you live in an average town and go to an average school every day of your average teenage life. I may be fine with all the 'normalness' but that doesn't mean I don't like a change every now and then. So I gladly joined the food fight, picking up my grass sandwich and chucking it in a random direction, just as everyone else was doing.

The food fight only lasted about five minutes. After that the vice principal, Mr. Lancer, showed up with a couple other staff members and took control of things. At least it was fun while it lasted, right?

School went by quickly after that. Unfortunately, I had English right after lunch. A very ticked Mr. Lancer taught the class, and assigned a large amount of homework. Next was history, which, you remember, included an important test. I'm pretty sure I aced it, though I don't think the same can be said for poor Ben. After P.E. and a frustrating math class, school was over.

The bus ride home was nothing worth mentioning, just a bunch of Ben wining about how badly he did on the history test and Teresa lecturing him about studying. We got off at the bus stop to find Cal waiting patiently with one of his friends. I waved goodbye to my own friends, and started the short walk home with my younger brother.

"Can Joey come to the park with us?" Cal asked, turning his adorable turquoise eyes up to mine in an even cuter pleading fashion.

"That's fine with me, as long as you don't mind Ben, Teresa and maybe a few of my other friends hanging around too." I answered, ruffling his hair again.

"Kay. When are we going?"

"We'll stop at home, call mom to let her know where we're going, and then we'll go. Sound good?"

"Yep."

I gave an almost silent sigh. My life is so simple and constant. Sometimes I worry I'll develop an obsessive-compulsive need for things to stay the way they are if it all doesn't change soon. How long has it been since something happened that changed things at least a little? I think five years ago, when my brother started school, would be the best guess. Before that it would've been when my mom started her job at the hospital six years ago. And four years before that, when…

I shook my head quickly, clearing that last, unwanted thought out of my mind. We'd reached the house, and because of my zoning out I hadn't heard what my brother had been talking about the whole walk home.

We left the house again about fifteen minutes later, riding our bikes first to Joey's house (Joey is Cal's best friend, by the way) then past several more blocks to Amity Park Park. The two ten year old boys I'd brought with me ran off to play, while I scanned the area for any signs of my friends.

I found them, Teresa and Ben sitting at a picnic table a short ways away. No sign of Lexi or Brad yet. Ben still looked very upset about the test. Teresa was probably trying to comfort him. I made sure I could still see Cal and Joey from where we sat, and then greeted them both. "Hey guys. What's up?"

"I have seen the error of my ways." Ben announced. "From now on, no more forgetting to study. No more excuses. No more procrastination."

"That's great, Ben." I smiled and shook my head, laughing silently.

"Yeah." Teresa agreed, smirking as well. "In fact, we've got an English quiz coming up Friday. We should get together like, Wednesday night or something."

"Wednesday? But I was going to…" Ben started to protest, but once he saw the annoyed look on our faces he changed his mind. "Of course I could always do that some other time."

We all chuckled a bit. "Speaking of English, I've got a ton of English homework today." I said, glancing at my backpack where it sat on the ground.

"Yeah, me too. Lancer was pretty angry after lunch today."

Ben lifted his own black backpack and set it on the table. "Nah, that's not why he assigned so much. He's just like that."

"Who's just like what?" Brad's voice floated into the conversation. We all turned to see him strolling up to the table, holding a disposable cup with Nasty Burger's label printed on the side in one hand.

"Lancer's just like Mr. Simons from Dead Teacher II." Ben answered, and the four of us laughed at the reference.

Everyone went on to talk about the newest Dead Teacher movie, soon to come out in theaters, while I let my eyes wander over to where I'd last seen my brother. He wasn't there anymore. I glanced over the rest of the park slowly, finding the back of his green t-shirt headed for the small woods in the center of the park. I stood up then, grabbing the attention of my friends. "I gotta follow Cal, guys. I'll be right back."

"Kay." Teresa and Ben said in unison.

I ran to catch up to Calvin, watching him disappear behind the trees and bushes. "Cal!" I shouted, hoping he'd hear and wait for me. I wasn't much in the mood to go searching for him. He didn't answer, and for the briefest of moments, a hint of worry crossed my mind. But I pushed it away quickly, what could there be to worry about? We'd been in this mini forest a hundred times.

"Calvin!" I shouted again, louder this time as I walked further into the trees. I rounded a rather large tree, walking backwards a few steps incase he came up behind me. "Calvin Thomas Carey!" I used his full name as I began to turn around. "Where are…"

I froze mid-sentence and nearly screamed. Standing (or sitting, or… whatever) only two or three yards away from me was a glowing green blob like thing. The moment I laid eyes on it, it turned. Red eyes stared straight into my own, then disappeared. I was alone again, still frozen in my place watching the spot where the thing had just been. The image seemed burned into my mind: A green blob of a creature, giving off a faint eerie light, terrifying red eyes that also glowed.

Had I really seen it? No, I couldn't have. I'd just been thinking so much about my brother's story, and then I was a bit worried about Cal. Right?

"Kris?"

I jumped and gasped, turning to find Cal and Joey looking at me with faces that seemed to say 'Are you okay?'

"Oh. Cal. There you are." I managed to say, trying to calm myself down. "Uh… I don't think it's a good idea to play out here alone. Besides, you need to stay where I can see you two." I began to usher them back out of the woods. Luckily they didn't protest.

After they'd gone off to do something else, I sat back down with my friends. Lexi was there now, chatting away as usual. Teresa turned to me, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "You alright, Kris? You look like you've seen a ghost or something." She laughed lightly at her comment.

I just blinked, shook my head, and forced a smile. "Yeah… I'm fine."

That was all she needed to hear, turning her attention back to Brad, who was sitting next to her and offering her a sip of his drink. I would've rolled my eyes, and maybe made a teasing remark, but I was too lost in thought.

In fact, I was in a daze the rest of the afternoon. Lexi mentioned something about a sleepover party, the guys talked about cars, Brad and Teresa continued to make eyes at each other, but that's really all I remember.

Eventually, the numbers on my digital watch clicked to five thirty, and I remembered that I'd promised Joey's mom he'd be home by six. I also recalled having not only a lot of English homework, but a math assignment as well. So I said goodbye to my friends, hunted down my brother and his friend, and left for home.

I cooked some macaroni and cheese while simultaneously doing my homework and helping Cal with his (multi-tasking is one of my talents.) We ate dinner, washed the dishes, and even managed to squeeze in a little TV time before nine o'clock rolled around.

"Did you brush your teeth?" I asked, running my hand through Cal's hair for the third time that day.

"Yes." He sighed, straightening his dark green pajama shirt a bit.

"Good. Then it's time for bed." I kissed the top of his head lightly, and gave him a gently shove toward his bedroom door. He entered the small room and climbed up onto the bed. I pulled the sky blue sheets up to his shoulders, turned off the lamp, and left, leaving the door just slightly ajar.

I flicked the TV in our family room on once more. I had no intention of actually watching it; I just hate being alone in the silence of night. My mind began to wander over the events of the day. My regular morning routine, helping Ben study, talking with Teresa, science class, health class, Spanish, lunch… I decided I'd probably take my own lunch to school the next day. Then there was the food fight, English class, history, math, P.E., riding home after school, and of course, the park.

The mental image of what I'd seen, or at least thought I'd seen, in the park that day popped back into my thoughts. I shivered slightly, remembering the thing's red eyes. Suddenly, having the television on wasn't enough to calm my nerves.

Knowing I was freaking out for nothing, I stood and turned the TV back off, turning off the family room lights as well on my way out. I took a post-it notepaper and a pen from the counter in the kitchen, and wrote a quick message to my mother.

_Mom,_

_Mac & Cheese in the fridge._

_See ya in the morning._

_Love, Kris._

I left the slip of turquoise paper out in the usual place, on the corner of the counter where she would set her keys once she got home. Then I climbed the stairs to my bedroom, changed into an oversized T-shirt and a pair of pajama pants, and crawled into bed. Fortunately, sleep came quickly, and I banished the tiresome memory of the park to the back of my mind as I drifted into dreamland.

"Kris!"

"Down here, Mom!" I called over the sizzling of the bacon and eggs I was currently frying over the stove. I heard frantic steps run down the stairs, round the corner, and my mother appeared in the kitchen doorway. She wore a large smile, as well as her regular work appropriate outfit. Her thick brown hair was pulled up nicely.

"I'm up on time this morning!" She announced, ecstatic over the rare accomplishment.

I laughed, scrapping the scrambled eggs into a large bowl. "That's great, Mom. How much of this do you want?" I switched off the stove, pouring the bacon onto a serving plate.

She eyed the food quickly. "Just a little, sweetie. Where's Cal?"

"Getting dressed. You did eat last night, didn't you?" I turned to make eye contact as I asked the question, putting on a serious expression.

She rolled her eyes and gave a half smile. "Yes, Mother. I ate last night." Then she ran back up the stairs to hurry my brother along. Her mind was still set on 'rush mode' even if she had managed to hear her alarm clock this morning.

I divided the bacon and eggs onto three plates, giving my mother more than 'just a little,' knowing that half of what I'd saved for her last night was in the garbage this morning. Setting all three plates on the table next to three glasses of orange juice and three forks, I shouted, "C'mon guys, it's ready!"

Forty-five minutes later, my mom's gray car pulled to a stop in front of Casper High. She'd driven Cal and I to school, since we were actually running early.

"I'll be home around six tonight, Kris." Mom reminded me.

"Okay, see you then. Thanks for the ride." I said, grabbing my backpack off the car floor and stepping onto the curb.

"I love you, sweetie."

"I love you too, Mom." I smiled, shut the car door, and waved as she drove off. I sighed happily, feeling very cheerful at the moment. I'd woken up without the grogginess morning usually brings. My mom and brother were both in excellent moods this morning as well. We'd actually gotten out of the house early. And now, Mom was going to be home at a regular time for once. Could the day get any better?

"Hey, Kris."

It just did.

My smile grew just slightly as excitement cause my stomach to ache in a pleasant way. I turned to face the person who'd greeted me. "Hi, A.J. What's up?" There's amazing blue those eyes, that awesome red hair, and, of course, that great smile that just makes me giddy inside. Fortunately I'm pretty good at hiding just how excited I am on the inside. I managed to pull off a more relaxed attitude.

"Not much, unless you count whatever's going on behind the school." A.J. answered, snapping me back to reality as I noticed for the first time the sounds of shouting, music, and someone talking into a microphone.

I blinked, listening for a moment. "Wow. What is that?" I said, as I followed A.J. back around the building. It looked like some kind of giant carnival, divided into two different groups. On one side there were people cooking on barbeques, people holding balloons shaped like steaks, a guy in a hot dog suit, and signs reading things like 'Eat Meat' and 'Meat is Neat.' There was a cart selling 'Meat on a Stick,' a balloon made to look like a cow, and a giant hamburger, among other things. A temporary stage sat at the front of it all, a band currently playing some song while four girls in weenie costumes began some dance.

On the other side there were people having picnics, passing around flowers, fruits, and vegetables, dancing, or holding signs reading 'Give Peas a Chance' or 'Eat your Greens' and other things like that. A speaker system was set up on top of a school bus, where a man stood reciting some poem. A large green banner hung across the side of the bus with the words 'Ultra Recyclo Vegetarian' printed in big white letters.

"So, they're protesting the menu change," A.J. said, pointing first to the group of meat lovers. "And they're protesting their protest." He pointed to the vegetarians, then back at the meat lovers.

"That's what it looks like to me." I agreed, glancing back and forth between both parties, rather surprised.

A.J. laughed a bit and shook his head. "Some people can be such picky eaters."

I laughed at his comment as well. We both just sort of stayed out of the way, not really interested in either party. A few minutes later the bus I usually ride arrived and I met up with Ben and Teresa.

"What is all this?" Teresa asked, the same confused expression on her face as the one I'd worn about seven minutes earlier.

"Protests against and for the menu change." I answered. "Honestly I think they're all going a little too far. I mean it was just for a week and-"

"Sweet! Let's go see what we can do to get meat loaf back on our lunch trays!" Ben interrupted me, dragging both Teresa and I over to the meat lovers' side of it all.

Both parties finished a session of chanting, each continuing their protest programs. I rolled my eyes as the Hot Dog Girls (or whatever they're called) danced back on stage and the band started up again. I was rather eager for school to start so I could leave this nonsense behind. Sure, it was different from the normal, which is exactly what I'd wanted, right? Well, yes, I had wanted a bit of a change, but not in the form of guys dressed as giant hams. Although compared to what happened next, people in meat-themed costumes don't seem all that odd.

A strong wind picked up suddenly, and the sky darkened. Everyone began to quiet down as they noticed the sudden change in weather. The music stopped, the dancing stopped (thank heavens,) the chanting stopped. The only noise was the howl of the wind and a few people murmuring to their companions.

There was a rumbling, followed by a loud crash as a large delivery truck in the parking lot nearby, well… erupted. Meats of all different kinds shot out of the truck, swirling around in the air and forming a giant column of, that's right, meat. Now everyone was silent, too stunned and confused to speak. There was perhaps the occasional gasp, but that was all. The column continued to grow, gathering into it any steaks, burgers, ribs, and hot dogs in the area. Once it had become a mountainous pile, the wind stopped. Said pile then sprouted two huge arms, a head, and a face.

"IT'S LUNCH TIME!" The thing shouted in a clearly sinister voice, breaking the silence and bringing from the crowds many shouts and screams of terror. I screamed, wouldn't you? I also wasn't about to stick around and figure out what was going on. No, I ran with the rest of everyone, and I kept running for quite some time.

Now, it may sound to you like I'm delirious, but I know what I saw. In fact, that's exactly what I said to my mother.

"I'm not delirious, Mom. I know what I saw!" I almost shouted into the phone I held against my head. "Just ask anyone who was there. They all saw it too!"

"Alright, alright." Mom sighed. I could just imagine her massaging her temples the way she often does when giving in to Cal or I just to calm us down. "Where are you?"

I glanced at the nearest street sign, unhappy that she was trying to change the subject. "The corner of Maple and Jones, in front of that book store you like." I answered.

"Okay. I'm coming to get you. Just wait there and-"

"Don't talk to strangers, I know." I sighed and hung up the phone, not bothering to say goodbye. I sat on a bus stop bench and glanced up and down the city street. Where Ben and Teresa wound up, I'm not entirely sure. I vaguely remember them nearby while we were all running for our lives, but I left the rest of the crowd five minutes ago when I realized we were well away from the school.

Despite my attempts to not think about what had just happened, I couldn't help but picture the meat monster again. Something about it seemed ever so slightly familiar, but I couldn't figure what it was.

My mom picked my up fifteen minutes later, drove me home, and checked my temperature (among other things. That's the trouble with having a nurse for a mom. You get a physical each time you're sick. Of course, this time I wasn't sick.)

After all that she called Casper High to see what they could tell her. They weren't sure what to make of it all. The school had decided to continue with their regular schedule; though more than half the students were absent. Since they had no way to logically explain what had happened, they simply blamed it all on the new Vegetarian menu, figuring the sudden change had caused some form of mass hallucination or something.

Mom had to get back to work, so she made a quick call to the Elementary school to be sure everything was okay there, then insisted I lay down for a while, and left. I did lie down, but seeing as there was nothing wrong with me I could only stand to lie in bed for two hours. After that I got up and cleaned the house, and then made a batch of brownies while thinking about a few things. Things like what I'd seen, whether or not I'd actually imagined it, and if so, what was wrong with me?

While the majority of my thoughts dwelled on these questions, the small, curious part of my mind mused over slightly different things. Like the thing I'd seen in the park, the way it had glowed, and the fact that it was the same sort of eerie glow as the meat monster. Maybe… maybe I hadn't imagined any of it at all.

* * *

Author's Note: Yikes. That was longer than I had expected it to be.I'm kinda doubting that themajority ofthe rest of thechapters will be this long. I'll try to get the second instalment up within the next two weeks. There's something about how this turned out that's bothering me. Maybe I'm just a little rusty, having just got over a bad case of writer's block. Hopefully I can figure out what I'm doing. 

Anyway, thanks for reading! Please review.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Ack! I am so terribly sorry for the lateness of this chapter! I seriously mean to update at least once a week. I just had some issues with this chapter. Like writer's block, for one thing. Plus I've had NaNoWriMo on my mind, which I will be doing this year, so updates in November may be scarce. Anyway, thanks to all who read and reviewed the first chapter. Hopefully, you'll enjoy the second.

Another Important Note: While writing this and the first chapter, I watched the corresponding episodes at least once or twice to make sure I was keeping details straight. Seems I somehow missed a very important detail in Parental Bonding, however. That episode happens over just two days, while I spread it out over five. So... sorry about that. If I ever go back and rewrite this chapter, I'll be sure to fix that.

Disclaimer: Butch Hartman owns Danny Phantom, not me. Any OC's are mine though.

* * *

Family Night. One night a month during which my mother, brother, and I stuff our faces with pizza, pop, and candy while playing board games and watching movies until we all fall asleep on the family room couch. This night usually falls on a Saturday when my mom is home before seven, and won't need to be to work the next day until at least after noon. If her schedule will not permit such a night from happening that month, Family Night can be changed to Family Day, in which case we all sleep in one weekend morning, have a large brunch, and go out to see a movie or something. 

This particular Saturday was Family Night, and I'd been looking forward to it all month.

The doorbell rang with a loud "Ding-dong!" sounding throughout the house and signaling the arrival of our traditional pizza order.

"I'll get it!" I shouted, jumping up from my seat at the kitchen table and dashing for the front door. It opened with a creak and my eyes rested on the Crusty's delivery boy clad in his red and yellow uniform.

He held his right hand out to me, palm upward. "That'll be $15.25." He said in an uninterested sort of way.

I grabbed the money off a side table in the front room, handed it to him, and took the pizzas with a quick, "Thanks. Bye!" Two seconds later I was back in the kitchen, shoving candy and potato chips out of the way as I set the boxes on the table.

"Mmm… smells good! Let's eat!" My mom shouted, throwing open one of the boxes and removing a slice of pepperoni pizza with extra cheese. Cal and I followed, each taking from the second box that contained a medium deep dish with everything but anchovies.

I picked off the mushrooms and set them on a napkin, then selected several green gummy bears from a pile of candy off to the side of the table and put them in the mushrooms place. Yes, I like gummy bears on my pizza. It's good, okay?

Cal chugged a root beer, while Mom and I went for the colas. She popped the tab on her can, took a long sip, then set the drink back down and said, "Okay, talk time," before shoving another bite of pizza into her mouth.

"Mrs. Layson says she'll bring her pet snake to school Monday. She might even let us hold it!" Cal announced excitedly.

"Sounds like fun." Mom smiled. She took another sip of soda, then continued with her bit of news. "Remember that patient I've been wining about all week? She was finally aloud to go home today."

"That's great, Mom." I gave a weak smile, knowing it was my turn. "I, uh… got a C+ on my last Math quiz." My eyes fell to the half eaten pizza in front of me, not sure of what Mom's reaction would be.

I heard her sigh a bit, pausing to think. A brief moment later she answered, "Well, you'll just have to do better next time." I let my eyes back up to meet hers; finding that warm, motherly smile that just makes everything feel better. "Anything else?"

Considering something for a few seconds, I replied, "There's a big dance this Friday."

"Are you planning on going?" She pressed, the uneasy mood my first bit of news had brought lifting away.

"Well, I don't know. No one's asked me yet."

"Asked you? Like, so it would be a date? Ew, gross!" Cal's voice entered the conversation, slightly muffled from the bite of pizza he was simultaneously chewing.

Mom and I laughed. "Yes, I suppose it could be called a date." I chuckled, rubbing his head furiously for the sole purpose of annoying him. "Just wait three or four years, you'll change your mind about it being gross."

The ten year old made a face, scooting his chair away so his head was out of my reach.

Twenty minutes later we moved our mess of candy and soda down stairs to the family room, settling on the orange-red couch for the first movie. It was Cal's turn to choose what we would watch. I found it hard to focus on his decision, however, and let my mind wander instead.

I'd been avoiding that lately. My thoughts had a tendency to cling to the events of earlier that month, whenever I let them. When I'd gone over what happened the Tuesday morning after the menu change again, my mom half listened to me, and then changed the subject. Any mention of it afterward was ignored or brushed off. I think I really startled her, ranting about giant meat monsters. After all, I have to be the sane one in the family or we'd never get anywhere.

Cal was very interested and excited in the story. However, after Mom made it apparent that she wanted the whole incident forgotten, I refused to tell him any more. I never did mention that I'd seen the thing in the park. Somehow I think that, even if it were real, telling him would only make things worse.

My friends seem to have recovered, making jokes about it all during lunch. Teresa had stayed home the rest of that day as well, but Ben's parents had him back at the school by third period. Lexi had been inside the building during the whole thing. She heard screaming and such, but never actually saw anything (well, except for a whole lot of meat and recyclo veggie stuff all over campus). Brad was late for school, so he saw the same scene as Lexi.

I believe I've already told you what the school says about the incident. They blamed it all on the vegetarian menu, despite the fact that there were witnesses who had never even touched the veggies, and that something must have happened for there to be food all over the school grounds (and on the roof).

These are some of the things I pondered as the movie went on. Finally I let my mind drift to other things. Things like the upcoming dance. Teresa and Brad would almost certainly go together. Lexi shouldn't have much to worry about, so long as she doesn't decide to be picky about whom she goes with. Ben, however, might have a problem. Then again, I might as well. I wouldn't be much surprised if we ended up… er… 'together' as friends. It's not exactly the greatest thing, but it's better than not going at all.

An image of A.J. crossed my mind. Who would he take? He seems to be pretty good friends with that one blonde girl. Or maybe that other girl, the sophomore who's so short she gets mistaken for a freshmen. I doubt he'd go for Paulina; many boys tend to lose their voice when trying to talk with her. Of course, boys also tend to do unexpected things when it comes to Casper High's most popular girl.

Thinking about school brought another subject to mind: schoolwork, or more accurately, math. I sighed almost silently as I remembered how terribly I'd been doing in my least favorite subject. Algebra just doesn't seem to work with me. I can't make any sense of it at all, and it's becoming obvious in my grades.

Eventually the end credits of Cal's movie choice began to roll across the screen. As it was my turn to pick the movie, I snapped back to reality and got up to change the disks in the DVD player. Selecting a romantic comedy my mom and I absolutely adore, I took my seat on the couch again and ignored Cal's complaints. I'd had to sit through his movie, and he'd be asleep before this one was half over, anyway.

**xxxxx**

"I've had eight guys ask me so far." Lexi announced, oblivious to how cocky she sounded.

"That many, so soon?" Teresa asked, slightly surprised.

I shut my locker, ignoring the fact that Lexi had once again been using my mirror. She'd find another in five minutes. "So, have you decided who you're going with?" I asked her, beginning the walk to Teresa's locker. My friends followed along side me.

"I turned them all down." She replied, tightening the ponytail high up on her head. "None of them were my type, and I've still got all week for someone better to come along. What about you two?"

"Oh…" Teresa broke into a small smile. "I'll probably hang around with Brad while we're there, you know?"

Lexi and I both gave her a sarcastic look that said, 'Uh, yeah. We know.' We laughed for a minute, leaning up against the lockers next to Teresa's.

"Well, Kris? Who are you going with?" Lexi turned to me.

I let my eyes wander to the ground. "Well… I'm not sure. No one has asked me yet."

"You are going, though, right?" Teresa stopped organizing her locker to look at me as well. "Because it would totally stink if you weren't there."

"I'm sure I'll find someone by Friday." I assured her, even though I wasn't so sure myself.

As Teresa shut the lime green metal door to her locker and checked that it had locked, Lexi stated, "Well, you'd better find someone quick. You wouldn't want to end up with Foley."

Both girls laughed at the comment. I gave a small, nearly silent chuckle, but hadn't really enjoyed the remark. It was meant as a simple joke, of course, and nothing else. I've just never been interested in joking around that way.

They changed the subject to something else then, as we headed down the hallways in no particular direction. I missed whatever it was they were discussing, however, as my attention was distracted to the trademark blue baseball cap of a tenth grade boy, whose identity you should have already guessed. That's right, A.J.

I stared at him for a while, lost in thought. He was leaning up against the lockers at the far end of the hallway we currently traveled in, talking to one of his friends. We'd pass him in a minute or so, unless we decided to turn or take the stairs. I would have watched him with a ridiculous smile on my face until he was out of site, but Lexi's voice calling my name broke into my mind.

I shook my head a bit to clear it, replying with a dazed, "Huh?"

"I said, 'You're coming, too, right?'" Lexi answered, apparently repeating something I hadn't heard.

"Coming to what?" I asked, my expression revealing the confusion flooding my mind.

"My major slumber party next week! I've only been talking about it all month!" She said, loud enough for to almost be considered a shout. Before I could answer, she added, "What planet have you been on?"

I opened my mouth again, but Teresa interrupted with that teasing smirk. "Planet A.J." She pointed down the hall at the Sophomore I'd been staring at only moments earlier.

Lexi glanced in the direction Teresa had pointed. "Oh. Well that explains it."

The first bell rang then, warning all students that they'd better get to their homeroom classes within the next five minutes, or they would be in some trouble. As Lexi and Teresa began to move off toward their first classes, I finally managed to give my answer to Lexi's first question.

"I'll have to check with my mom, but I should be able to make it next Friday." I shouted over the sound of lockers slamming and kids running. Then I turned for the stairs and began to weave my way through the now crowded, chaos filled hallway.

**xxxxx**

A blue lunch tray landed across the table from my own, and a moment later Lexi's big brown eyes were staring straight into my own green ones. "So you are coming then?" She asked, joining Teresa and I at the table we'd selected. We were eating outside today.

"I'm sure I'll be able to make it. Don't worry, Lexi." I assured her, taking a small bite of salad.

She sighed then, seeming relieved for some reason. "Good, because I'm gonna need you two there to help me out." She said, referring to Teresa and me. "I'm inviting like every girl in school. Well, every important girl, that is."

"Like who?" Teresa asked, taking a sip from the mini carton of milk on her lunch tray.

"Well there's you guys, Star, Celeste, Amanda, Jenny…" Lexi continued to name off nearly a fourth of the freshmen class, and a good portion of sophomores as well. After she'd finished that, she went on to tell us everything she had planned for the party, and what she'd need us to do. A few minutes later the boys arrived with their lunches.

"You ask anyone to the dance yet, Ben?" Teresa asked, partly because she was curious and partly because she wanted to bug him.

He frowned a bit and looked uneasy. "Nah… I don't think I'll be going."

"Why not? You've still got all week to find someone." I reminded him.

Lexi added, "Yeah. Kris and I haven't got anyone yet, either."

"You haven't been asked yet, Lexi?" Brad chimed in, rather surprised.

"Oh, she's been asked." Said Teresa with a small chuckle. "She's just being picky."

"I am not!" Lexi protested. "I'm just waiting for the right person to come along."

"And who might that be?" Brad teased. "Dash?"

"As if Dash would ask me." Lexi laughed. "He'll be after Paulina, I'm sure."

Brad laughed in an odd way, and said, "I don't blame him." He then received an elbow to his ribs from Teresa, who didn't seem to have enjoyed the comment.

Loud laughter arose from behind us. We all turned to see what was going on. By some coincidence, there stood the same Latino girl we'd been talking about. Several people (mostly guys) were around her, and all were laughing at someone standing not far from Paulina in the center of it all. Danny Fenton, looking rather mortified, was the one who had everyone's attention. The reason for all the laughter was that his pants were currently around his ankles. My friends joined in the giggling and chuckling. I tried my best not to laugh as well, feeling sorry for the boy. I couldn't help but snicker silently, however. It was a pretty hilarious scene, after all.

"He's such a freak, sometimes." Brad stated once things had quieted down. He was referring to Danny, who'd just been pulled away from it all by his friend, Sam.

"Nah." Teresa disagreed. "He's just a klutz. There's nothing freaky about that."

"I beg to differ." Said Lexi. "I had him as a lab partner one day a few weeks ago. He kept shivering, and couldn't hold onto anything for more than five minutes. He broke like, six beakers."

My friends continued to discuss Danny for a minute or so more, and then the conversation migrated to other subjects. Eventually fourth period rolled around, and we all went our separate ways for the rest of the school day. Things went pretty quickly up until the last class of the day. I believe I've told you before which class this is for me.

"So the answer is seven over twelve." Mrs. Hanson announced, facing the chalkboard as she mapped out the problem she'd just described.

Groaning silently, I glanced at the clock hanging above the door and mentally begged it to change to 3:25. The second hand clicked as it moved one mark at a time, seeming to become slower with each passing moment. The minute and hour hands both pointed at the three mark, mocking me with the fact that there was still ten minutes of torture left to go.

"Now everyone open your books to page one ninety-one, and I will give you your assignment." The math teacher said, turning around to face the class. Everyone groaned and whined, reluctantly searching for the page number she'd given.

My mind went blank as I stared at the problems printed on the page, something that happened nearly every time I looked at my algebra homework. This over that divided by the other number to the power of something. It made my head hurt. Slowly, I set the end of my pencil to a clean piece of notebook paper, and began to work. I had about three and a half of the equations done by the time the final bell rang. Three and a half, out of fifty. Great.

With a frustrated sigh, I picked up my things and pushed my way out the door.

Luckily I was given a chance to procrastinate on the rest of my homework, and go to the Nasty Burger with my friends instead. We often go there after school to hang out, talk about everything, and ruin our dinner appetites.

After we finished our meals and disposed of the trash, Brad and Lexi went their separate ways, while Ben, Teresa and I headed across the park on our way home. I'd been avoiding the place since you-know-what happened, but I knew simply crossing the park on the way home wouldn't be a problem.

Well, it shouldn't have been a problem, anyway. As we were about half way through, there was a scream coming from the general direction of the small forest. My eyes widened as the three of us turned to see the cause. A lady was running frantically from the woods. A police officer that'd been giving parking tickets nearby came to see what was wrong. As my friends and I got closer, I could here some of the conversation.

"Ma'am, please. You need to calm down." The officer said to the woman, who looked like a nervous wreck.

"I'm telling you, there's something in there! I saw it!" She practically screamed at the cop.

He simply nodded and calmly asked, "Saw what?"

"I don't know what it was!" she answered, almost hyperventilating now.

"Well, could you describe it?" He asked, removing a note pad and pencil to record the info (though, most likely, he only did so to give the woman the impression that the case was as serious as she thought it would be).

"It was green and glowing, with red eyes…" She began to describe what she'd seen, stuttering every once in a while.

I had heard enough and picked up my pace a bit, hoping my friends would also. My head was swarming, and I was sure my face had gone a few shades paler. I heard Ben chuckle just behind me. "Someone's got a few screws loose." He remarked, referring to the lady. I bit my tongue.

"Are you okay, Kris?" Teresa asked me, a bit concerned.

"Uh, yeah." I said quickly. "I'm just stressing about my math homework."

She nodded at this, as it was a reasonable answer even if it wasn't entirely true.

Actually, the forty-six and a half math problems made an effective distraction from what had happened. After I got home, I said a simple "Hi" to Mom and Cal, went up to my room, and immersed myself in the assignment, blocking out the rest of the world. Of course the distraction only lasted an hour, but anything related to the park incident that hadn't already been forgotten would be by Wednesday. Why? You'll see.

**xxxxx**

"Finally." I muttered under my breath as the final bell rang throughout the school building. I gathered up my math book, pencils, and notebook, and then headed out the door. Teresa was waiting for me at my locker. "Hey." I greeted her, spinning the combination lock to the same three numbers I turned to several times a day.

"Hey." She answered, smiling. She opened her mouth to say something more, but was cut off by a very frantic sounding Lexi.

"Girls, I've got a problem." Lexi said quickly. I knew something was certainly wrong when she didn't even glance in my locker mirror.

Teresa must not have noticed this detail though. She rolled her eyes and sighed before replying. "What now, Lexi?"

"I haven't found anyone to go to the dance with!" She cried, obviously very upset.

"Well why not? I mean you were asked like, twenty times." Teresa pointed out.

For a moment, Lexi actually appeared regretful. "I turned them all down. I haven't been asked by anyone new since lunch yesterday. I think everyone may have already found a date." She began to pout then, and sighed in exasperation. "What do I do?"

I sighed as well. "Ben and I still haven't found anyone. Maybe the three of us could catch a movie or something."

"But…" Lexi protested quickly. "This is our first high school dance. I really don't want to miss it!"

"You should have thought of that before you turned down every offer you got." Teresa remarked. Lexi just pouted again, unwilling to admit her mistake.

I was about to suggest something else, but before I could say anything someone else's voice interrupted my thoughts. "Hey Kris."

My eyes went wide for a moment as I completely forgot what we'd just been talking about, and then my face broke into a wide, friendly smile. I turned around to greet the speaker. "Hey, A.J. You remember my friends, Teresa and Lexi?"

A.J. nodded, glancing at the two girls standing next to me. "Yeah. How's it goin' girls?"

Lexi gave a quick "Hi," obviously not feeling very friendly at the moment.

Teresa simply waved, glanced at Lexi, and said in an obviously faked tone, "Lexi! There's something in your hair!"

Lexi immediately began to freak, feeling around the back of her head and shouting, "Where? What is it?"

Teresa began to drag her away from A.J. and I while saying, "Come on I'll help you get it out. Over there." She then sent a quick wink to me, and disappeared around the corner, pulling Lexi along.

I laughed nervously, unsure of whether to thank Teresa for the privacy or complain about her leaving me alone. Of course, I could do neither at the moment, as my crush was currently standing right next to me. "So…" He began, reclining against the lockers. "Haven't talked to you since Tuesday morning a few weeks ago."

"Yeah, the protest things." I recalled slowly.

"What do you think happened that day? I mean you saw that… thing… right?" He asked, starting up a conversation, one I wouldn't have been too interested in if it were anyone else talking about it.

"Yeah, I saw it." I answered. "I have no idea what that was. Wasn't it weird?"

"I kinda thought it was cool. You know, after I stopped running and screaming like an idiot." He laughed, and I chuckled a bit as well. I was trying desperately to relax, and was hoping he'd change the subject soon. Fortunately, he coughed a bit to clear his throat instead of going on. It was then that I realized he seemed a bit nervous himself, not like he had the few other times we'd spoken to each other.

"You… uh, going to the dance this Friday?" He asked, trying to sound casual.

"I don't know. I was thinking about it but…" I trailed off, afraid that if I mentioned not having a date I would sound desperate. "Why? Are you going?"

"Probably." He answered, pausing before he continued. "Anyone ask you?"

I hesitated briefly before replying. "No…" I shook my head slightly, glancing at the floor. Through the corner of my eye, I saw him nod slowly. "So, who are you taking?" I asked, dreading his answer.

"Actually," he started, and I could almost hear him smiling. I braced myself for the rest. "I was thinking I'd ask… you, Kris."

I think my heart skipped a beat or two, but I couldn't tell for sure as the rest of my insides decided right then would be a good time to play jump rope. For a moment I couldn't speak, but I knew if I didn't force something out, I'd look really stupid. "Me?" I said with a bit of a laugh.

"Yeah." He nodded some more. "That is, if you want."

"Uh… yeah. Sure, I- I'd love to." I stuttered, seriously hoping I didn't look or sound as excited and shocked as I felt.

"Great." He smiled. "Then I'll pick you up at, say… six-thirty?" He began to walk off, backwards and very slowly.

"Yeah. See you then." I waved, also smiling. He nodded once more, turned, and left. I sat staring at the place he'd been for what felt like an eternity. The halls were nearly empty now since most of the students had left for home. I just stood there, staring at nothing with a big grin on my face, locker still wide open and math book still in hand. I hadn't yet gotten around to putting it away.

Eventually I felt an arm wrap around my shoulder and saw Teresa's long black hair covered head in the corner of my eye. "So?" She asked.

"He asked me to the dance." I answered without moving anything but my mouth.

"And you said…?" She pressed.

Now I moved, turning to look her in the eyes. "What do you think I said? Yes! I said yes. Duh!" Finally I was aloud to reveal just how excited I was, as I practically shouted my answer at her.

She smiled and snickered, flashing that teasing smile of hers. She opened her mouth to comment, but was stopped by Lexi.

"Oh great! Now I'm the only one without a date!" Lexi cried, almost shouting herself.

I gasped. "Lexi! I'm so sorry, I completely forgot. I…"

"Where've you guys been?" Ben's voice cut me off. He was running down the hall toward us three, carrying his backpack. "We've missed the bus home!" He added and slowed as he reached us.

Before he could say anything else, Lexi grabbed him by the shoulders and held him up against the lockers. "Have you asked anyone to the dance yet?" She said, her face inches from his.

He gave a startled, "No" and stared at her with a very shocked expression.

"Good. You're taking me." She told him, letting go of his shoulders and walking over to my open locker door to check the mirror. "Pick me up at six fifteen. I want to be here early. You'd better wear something nice, and use some hair gel or something." She added.

Ben just stared at her, still in shock. Teresa gave a chuckle and an eye roll. I shook my head and giggled under my breath. Ben hasn't known Lexi as long as Teresa and I have, and so he hasn't had many chances to see how tough she can be when she's desperate.

He recovered a few moments later, his attention returning to the reason he was there in the first place. "Guys, we missed the bus. How're we supposed to get home now?"

"Relax, Ben." Lexi said while applying some lip-gloss. "I'm sure my mom can give us a ride." She added, whipping out her cell phone and dialing the number.

It wasn't until after everything was arranged and we were about to head out for the parking lot to wait for Mrs. Burks that I realized I still had my math things in my hands. "I'll catch up in a second, guys!" I called after my friends and turned back to my still wide-open locker. As I shoved everything onto the shelf and removed my backpack, I let myself giggle in excitement. He'd actually asked me! It was almost too much to believe.

"Kristina!" Someone said from behind me, with an almost flirtatious tone.

I didn't need to look to know who it was, I just swung my backpack onto one shoulder, shut the locker, and began to walk down the hall saying, "Sorry, Tucker. I'm taken."

I heard a disappointed "Ah man" as I turned the corner and headed for the door.

**xxxxx**

Due to lack of important events, we're going to skip ahead to Thursday afternoon. Lexi, Teresa, and I were at the mall searching for something to wear Friday night. We'd gone through several stores so far. Teresa had purchased an orange sleeveless dress with a matching set of elbow-length gloves, but she was the only one who'd found anything. I was having difficulties finding something that would work for me, and Lexi was just being her regular picky self.

I sipped my grape slushie and listened to Teresa recalling an incident with her mother that morning (something about doing her chores or whatever) while we both waited for Lexi to get out of the dressing room. She'd gone in there about ten minutes ago with seven different dresses. Every once in a while she would call out that she hadn't liked one and toss it out the door for us to put back.

"So, now I'm banned from using the detergent." Teresa finished with a laugh.

Lexi's voice came from under the changing room door. "This one's color is all wrong. It doesn't match my skin tone." A moment later a light green, spaghetti strapped, sparkly dress flew out at us. Teresa rolled her eyes, snatching the rejected garment off the ground and hanging it on the rack meant for clothing that had been tried on.

"Come on Lexi, there's got to be something you like." I shouted through the door, letting my own gaze drift up to the ceiling. As I glanced down again, I spotted an Asian boy in red approaching us. No, it wasn't Ben. This guy was built much larger, and wore a letterman jacket rather than the red hoodie Ben likes so much.

"Hey gals. Lexi here with you?" Kwan asked as he came closer.

Teresa and I exchanged glances, looked back at the dressing room, then at each other again, and finally at the football player in front of us.

"She'll, uh… be back soon. Why?" Teresa asked, though she and I both had an idea of what he wanted.

"I was just wondering if she'd like to go with me to the,"

"She's already going with someone." We interrupted; knowing that Lexi would drop poor Ben in a heartbeat if she knew Kwan was interested in taking her Friday.

"Oh." He said, looking slightly dejected. He considered something for a moment, then his face brightened a bit as he asked, "I don't suppose either of you would like to,"

Teresa again cut him off with a quick "No thanks."

"I'm taken." I answered immediately after she did, and then asked, "Weren't you taking Valerie?"

"Uh… yeah." Kwan responded reluctantly. Then he turned and left, and not a moment too soon as Lexi stepped out the door the moment he was gone.

Teresa and I exchanged another glance, silently agreeing not to tell Lexi about the whole thing.

"This is it!" Lexi announced excitedly, modeling a simple rosy pink dress that hugged her form tightly. Honestly, I'm not sure how she managed to breath in the thing.

"Looks great." I commented, while Teresa sighed at the same time.

"Finally." She muttered under her breath.

Lexi inspected herself in a mirror once more, and then ran back into the dressing room, saying, "I'll just change back into my clothes, and then we'll find you something, Kris."

Easier said than done. We searched the rest of that store, and then moved on to the next (and last store in the mall that even sold dresses). After looking through ten different racks and displays, I finally found something that I thought might work.

It wasn't anything extremely fancy, just a light blue, silky sort of thing. It tied around the neck, had no sleeves, but came with a scarf like thing worn around the shoulders. I came out of the dressing room to show my friends, with a timid, "Well, what do you think?"

"It's perfect!" Teresa exclaimed.

"Yeah, that one's great, Kris. You're definitely a winter." Lexi added, and though I don't completely understand what she meant, I thanked her anyway.

Since we'd all had success in finding something to wear, the three of us decided to celebrate and headed for the food court. The moment we left the store's doorway, we were met with screams, shouts, and several people running from the general direction of the food court. We decided to go and find out what had happened, even though that probably wasn't the best idea.

There wasn't much to see by the time we'd made it to the food court. Several tables and chairs had been smashed and thrown around; the nearby Abyss store was a mess as well as a hot dog place; but other than that there was no sign of whatever had caused so much screaming and panic.

"What do you think happened here?" Teresa asked the same question that was on my mind. Already some mall security officers where inspecting the area, while a couple janitors began to clean up and people filed back in.

We watched for a moment more, and then Lexi shrugged and said, "Whatever. Let's get something to eat, I'm starved!" She and Teresa headed for a burger place.

I followed close behind them, but at a slower pace. My mind was still dwelling on the subject of what might have happened only a few minutes ago that could have made all this mess. I glanced around slowly, taking in every detail I could and searching for anything that might seem out of place. That's when I noticed several large scratch marks in the tile. I stopped to study them a bit longer, and overheard someone talking to one of the security officers. I only heard a little, but I think they mentioned something about a dragon. Once I'd heard this the first things to pop into my mind as I examined the marks on the ground were the words, "Claw marks?"

My friends called me over then, and I shoved the thoughts into the back of my mind. I had more important things to think about right then.

Which brings us to Friday night.

"Oh! Kris you look lovely!" My mother cooed, nearly in tears as she snapped several pictures of me with her camera.

"Uh, thanks Mom, but I'd really rather not go to the dance blind, if you don't mind." I remarked, laughing as I shielded my eyes from another series of camera flashes. I hadn't had the chance to move from the bottom step since I came down from my room, because of my mother and her camera.

Finally, she stepped aside. "I'm sorry sweetie, you just look so beautiful!" A few tears managed to press their ways down her cheeks. She lifted the camera to her eyes again in a failed attempt at hiding the wet streaks on her face.

After she'd taken that last photo, I stepped away from the stairs and into the front room, laughing almost inaudibly. "Mom" I groaned playfully as she wiped her face. She always gets emotional when I dress up. I was in my new dress; my hair was curled, pulled up, and coated in hair spray. "So, uh… when's this boy getting here?" My mother asked.

The doorbell rang before I could answer her. "Now!" I said excitedly, smoothing out my dress and checking my hair in a hanging wall mirror.

I then headed for the door, but before I'd come within three yards of the entry, Cal was there with his hand on the knob. "I'll get it!" He announced, flinging the door wide open.

"Hi."

"Hey. I'm here to pick up Kristina. Is she here?" I heard A.J. say, though from where I stood I could not see him through the doorway.

Calvin smirked. "Of course she's here. Going to the dance with you is all she's talked about all day."

I went to grab my brother, but Mom got there first. She smiled warmly out the door while shoeing Cal away and motioning for A.J. to come in. "Hello. I'm Ms. Carey, Kris's mom. You must be A.J."

My attempts to keep from blushing were forgotten the moment A.J. stepped inside. The blue baseball cap that usually occupied the top of his head was absent; his hair combed and gelled to perfection. The navy blue suit he wore looked amazing, and made his eyes more… eh, I'm sorry. You're not all that interested in this sort of thing, are you? We'll move on.

"Hey, Kris. You look great." He greeted me, smiling.

I felt my face heat up. "Thanks. You too." A nervous chuckle escaped my mouth.

"You both look adorable!" Mom said. "Here, let me get a picture of you two together, before you go." Quickly she pushed us closer together and pulled the camera back to her eye. I forced a smile, hoping the picture wouldn't reveal how annoyed I was with my mother.

"Well, our ride is waiting. We'd better get going. Nice meeting you Mrs. Carey." A.J. said, leading me out the door.

I gave a short wave to my family, and then followed him out to a dark green car parked in front of the house. "We're riding with a couple friends of mine. Okay?" He told me as he opened the front passenger seat door and motioned for me to get in. I slid into the car to find A.J.'s blonde friend at the wheel.

"Hi!" She smiled. "Kris, right? I'm Nicole, and the goof ball in the back is Josh." Nicole introduced herself, and then pointed to the back seat at a Latino boy I recognized as someone A.J. was often with.

Josh leaned closer and held out a deck of cards. "Hey Kris! Wanna see a card trick?" He began to fan out the cards, but A.J. shoved him back in his seat.

"Just ignore him. We all do." A.J. told me, laughing at his friend.

Nicole started the engine. "Buckle up, everyone!"

I pulled my seat belt down across my shoulder and clicked it into place. "Hey, Niki, how about you let me drive?" Josh asked as the car began to pull out.

Her answer was a short, sarcastic burst of laughter followed by silence.

We were soon at the school. People were filing into the building through the gym entrance. A large banner hung above the doorway reading "School Dance 2 Nite." Everyone was dancing, or chatting with friends, or getting some punch. The gym was decorated with streamers and balloons and fancy lights. Everything was just amazing, and exciting.

"Well, come on boy, let's dance!" Nicole said after a brief moment of observing the activity. She grabbed Josh's arm and practically dragged him out into the middle of the dance floor.

After laughing at the two of them, A.J. turned to me. "Well, shall we?" With one hand he motioned toward the center of the gym, and the other he held out to me. I accepted happily, following him through the crowds to a clearer spot where we began to dance.

The night went by quickly. Eventually we decided to take a break, and I met up with my own friends for a bit. Teresa and Brad where enjoying a little punch and looked like they'd been busy. Ben and Teresa may not have been very enthusiastic about going together, but looked liked they'd had some fun as well.

"There you are Kris! So, how's it going?" Teresa greeted me.

I gave a big grin. "I'm having so much fun. How about you guys?"

Everyone answered with "Yeah" or "This is great" or something like that. We were all standing near the punch table. Just then, Danny Fenton walked by, took a couple glasses, and brought one to Paulina.

"Does anyone else find it immensely odd that Paulina agreed to go with Fenton?" Brad spoke up, eyeing the two.

Lexi, being the one who usually knows all about this sort of thing, answered, "She must be getting something out of it. She'd never even think of going with him, otherwise."

"I honestly thought she'd end up with Dash." Said Teresa.

"Actually," Lexi began, "Dash seems to think he's here with whoever he wants to be here with. He's hit on nearly half the girls here tonight. The half that aren't losers, of course."

"Speaking of losers, can you believe Foley actually found a date?" Brad continued the conversation, pointing out Tucker who was standing with Sam Manson.

Ben joined in, "I heard he was going with Valerie, but I haven't seen her here tonight."

"I thought Kwan was taking Valerie." Lexi stated.

"He asked someone else at the last minute." Ben replied.

"Well, gosh. If only I'd known he was still looking." Lexi said with a slightly disappointed tone. Teresa winked at me and smirked.

A slower song began then. Lexi dragged Ben out to the floor, Teresa and Brad disappeared, and I was left standing at the refreshment table. Fortunately, I was only alone for a moment.

"You ready to start up again?" A.J. asked, offering his hand once more to lead me back out to the dance floor.

"I sure am." I answered as we made our way through the couples and began to dance.

"So, are you enjoying yourself?" He said after a minute or so.

"Oh yeah. How about you?"

"I'm having a great time." There was another moment of silence as he glanced around the room, as if searching for something to talk about. "So… your mom seems cool."

I nodded. "Yeah. She's… a nurse at the hospital." I answered, trying to keep the conversation going.

"Really? Sweet. So what does your dad do?"

My stomach tightened, I looked down at my shoes, and simply answered with, "Uhh… actually I don't… really… uh."

He must have gotten the idea, because he quickly replied, "Oh, uh sorry. Never mind then." Fortunately, he left it at that, and changed the subject to something else.

Another couple songs later, and we decided to take another break. We both sat down on some chairs near the wall. Lexi and Ben joined us.

"Where are Teresa and Brad?" I asked them.

Before either could answer, Brad and Teresa where standing in front of us. Both were out of breath. Brad was wide eyed and shaking all over, while Teresa was pale and looked like she was about to pass out. I immediately went to Teresa's side, taking her hand and placing one arm around her back to help keep her balanced.

"Whoa!" Ben remarked. "What happened to you two?"

Holding onto me, Teresa replied through gasps for breath, "Out… in the foot ball field… big glowing thing!"

"Big?" Brad started. "It was huge! And blue, and glowing, and its claws were bigger than I am!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Back up! What are we talking about here?" Lexi said before they could go on.

"A dragon!" Teresa and Brad answered at the same time.

There was a moment or so of awkward silence and blank stares. I led Teresa to the chairs and sat her down. "Okay." I started, fairly concerned. "Now, from the beginning, what happened?"

Teresa took a deep breath before answering. "We were hanging out on the bleachers, by the field. Then this big, blue, glowing, dragon thing…"

"HUGE, blue, glowing, dragon thing." Brad corrected.

Teresa glared at him, "Whatever! It came out and started tearing the place apart!"

"Did you say it was glowing?" Ben asked.

Brad and Teresa nodded. Ben, A.J., and I were silent. I'm not sure what they were thinking about right then, but I was recalling a couple recent incidents with other oddly glowing creatures.

Lexi, however, looked annoyed. "Very funny guys." She said sarcastically. "I suppose the giant meat people came out then and they all had a tea party?" Obviously she was referring to the meat monster of a few weeks ago. "Maybe you two should stay away from the veggies for a while."

"We didn't imagine it! It was real!" Teresa protested.

I could see that tension was rising between my friends, and figured I'd better do what I could to calm everyone down. "Come on, Teresa. Let's just get you cleaned up. It'll be easier to figure things out once you're relaxed." I took her arm and led her away to the girl's bathroom. "We'll be right back." I called over my shoulder to the others.

"You believe me, right Kris? You know I'm not crazy?" Teresa asked as we weaved our way through the people.

I wasn't sure whether I believed her or not, or if I even wanted to. Right then the important thing was to calm her down. So I said, "I'm sure you saw something, Teresa. We'll figure out what it was later."

We walked in through the bathroom doorway, and froze after letting our jaws drop. The bathroom was a complete wreck, and I'm not talking about toilet paper wads stuck to the ceiling. Actually, there was no ceiling; something had crashed straight through it. A few piles of rubble dotted the floor, the only light in the room came from the moon outside, or from some sparking exposed wires.

"Suddenly, I'm feeling perfect." Teresa said, dragging my shocked self back out of the room.

"Did you find your sanity, Teresa?" Lexi asked when we returned.

Teresa ignored the comment. "No, but we did find the bathroom in ruins."

Ben chuckled, "What? Toilet paper wads on the ceiling again?"

"The bathroom would need a ceiling for that." Teresa answered, folding her arms and raising an eyebrow.

Everyone was silent for a moment more. Finally Lexi said, "Oh come on guys! Enough is enough. The dragon part wasn't even funny in the first place, now you're saying the bathroom has been destroyed!"

"It has! Go and see for yourself." Teresa insisted.

"Fine! I will!" With that, Lexi marched off to inspect the restroom. She was quiet the rest of the evening.

"Should we tell someone? I mean, do you think the faculty know?" A.J. asked, just as confused as the rest of us.

"What could have done that?" Asked Brad.

"Probably your dragon friend." Ben said.

Things were beginning to wind down everywhere else. People were leaving, a janitor had begun some early clean up, and the amount of couples dancing was gradually becoming smaller. Nicole approached us, dragging a dazed Josh behind her.

"Josh here has had too much punch." She told us, looking at A.J. and I. "I need to take him home. You two coming now, or you wanna stay a bit longer?"

A.J. looked to me, silently asking what I wanted. I thought about it for a moment, and then replied, "As fun as this night has been, I think it'd be a good idea to go now."

"Sounds good to me." He agreed.

We said goodbye to my friends, and headed out the door. The ride home went by quickly. A.J. walked me to my porch, and we said goodnight. I went inside and watched him and his friends drive off down the road.

"How'd it go? Tell me everything!" My mom demanded excitedly when she saw me in her bedroom doorway.

I paused for a moment, thinking about the strange things that had happened near the end of the dance. Remembering her reactions to previous incidents, I just shrugged and smiled. "It was great. I had an awesome time. We danced, and chatted, and danced some more. Nothing big, you know?" Then I said goodnight and went off to my own room, planning to tell her what had really happened some other time.

I went to sleep quickly and felt very relieved that it was all over. Though something in the back of my mind seemed to tell me that there was much more to come.

* * *

Author's Note: sigh Kay. That actually ended up being longer than the last chapter. Honestly, I was afraid it would be too short when I started. As I mentioned before, I had a lot of writer's block on this one, and I'm not very fond of how it turned out. Hopefully the next will be better. 

Now, to reply to all myawesome reviewers:

**CelloSolo2007-** Thank you! I'm trying hard to make it all work out, and that is a bit of work. I hope you continue to enjoy the story. Oh and Maternal Instincts is one of my favorite episodes.

**fubukis-wraph-** Thanks for the hug, I needed that. I'm sorryI didn't update sooner. I'll try harder with chapter 3!

**venusgal100-** You were going to write something like this? Guess I beat you to it. :P Thanks for reading!

**Dreamer for lyf-** Wow, coincidence! oO I'm trying tokeep thepersonalities of each characteras different as possible. Sometimes it's harder than it sounds. Thanks so much for your review. (Oh and, I'm on someone's favorite! Yay!)

**Anne Camp aka Obi-Quiet-** Thank you! I got Kwan in this one, and there should be some Star in chapter 3. If I stick to earlier plans, there'll be even more interaction in chapters 4 and 5, but I'm not positive if I'm sticking to those plans or not. We'll see how it goes I guess.

**GhostGirl008-** Well then, I hopeI can keep youguessing for a while. Thanks.

Thanks to anyone who read but didn't review, though I'd be extremely greatful if you would. I'll try my hardest to get chapter 3 up by next Sunday. See you then!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do own Kris and friends.

* * *

"Toothbrush, change of clothes, pajamas…" I named each item as I shoved them into a sky blue duffle bag, and then crossed them off my mental list.

Cal sat on my bed, watching as I ran about the room frantically grabbing and stuffing. "Gosh, Kris, you're only leaving over night. Do you really have to take so much?" He teased.

"Not now, Cal! Help me figure out what I'm forgetting!" I shouted back at him while rummaging through my closet.

The phone rang then. For a moment I could hear my mother talking to the caller, then came the sound of her foots steps on the stairs, and she appeared in my bedroom doorway looking slightly annoyed.

"Guess who." She said, holding the phone out to me.

I took the phone from her and positioned is between my shoulder and the side of my head while continuing my search through the closet. "What now?"

"When are you getting here? How much longer?" Lexi screamed, nearly destroying my left eardrum for the twelfth time that afternoon.

I sighed. "Five minutes less than the last time you called, Lexi. Just chill okay! I'm almost ready."

"People will start showing up in like, three hours! I need you here now!" She wined.

I pushed a box on the top shelf in my closet out of the way. "Ah! Found my flashlight." I announced. "Kay, listen Lexi. I've just got to shove everything else in my bag and I'll be right over. Kay? Bye." I turned off the phone before she could answer.

Have you figured out what's going on yet? It's Friday, around four o'clock, a week after the dance, and Lexi is about to have a nervous breakdown. She's called me nearly every five minutes since I got home from school.

"Okay." I sighed as I pulled the duffle bag zipper closed. "That's everything… I hope."

"Don't worry. If you forget anything, just call me and I'll run it over." Mom assured me.

"Thanks, Mom. I'm sure I'll be okay, though." I walked out my door and down the stairs. My mom followed, but as I reached the bottom step I realized my brother hadn't left the room yet. "Cal! Get out of my room, and don't you dare go near my journal while I'm gone!"

He ran out immediately, putting on an adorably innocent expression. "I wasn't gonna!" Cal insisted, but the mischievous look in his eyes said differently.

I shook my head and rolled my eyes, smirking at my little brother as he ran down the steps to join Mom and I in the foyer. After adjusting the duffle bag's strap on my shoulder and lifting the navy blue, bundled-up sleeping bag I'd brought up from the storage room, I turned my attention to my mother.

"You sure you can handle things while I'm gone?" I asked, using a fake concerned tone.

She rolled her eyes and smiled. "Yes, mother. I'm sure." Mom said sarcastically, but a moment later her face softened. "Don't worry Kris. Everything will be fine. You should go, have a great time, you need the vacation."

What did she mean by that?

Before I could I ask her that very question, the phone rang. I grabbed the receiver from my mother's hand, pressed the 'Talk' button, and quickly said, "I'm coming Lexi!" Then I turned the phone off again, returned it to Mom's hand, and headed for the door.

"Do you want a ride to her house?" Mom asked, following me out.

"Nah." I answered, tying the sleeping bag to the rack behind my bike's seat. "I'll just take my bike. Thanks though." We exchanged a tight embrace, and then I swung my right leg to the other side of the bicycle. She backed away, watching as I buckled my helmet and readjusted the way my bag hung off my shoulders. "Love ya, Mom. See you tomorrow."

"I love you, too, Kris. Have fun!" She called as I pushed off and rode down the street.

Lexi doesn't live too far away from my own house. She's farther than Ben and Teresa, who both live just around the corner, but still within biking distance (walking distance, if I'm feeling energetic). Actually, her house is about a block away from the park.

Which means I had to ride past the park in order to get there. A chill ran up my spine as I pedaled down the road that ran right next to the forest half of the place. It used to seem so peaceful, happy, and welcoming. Now when I looked through the trees, all I could see was darkness, and had the feeling I was being watched. The moment I was past the woods every muscle in my body relaxed, and I realized I'd been holding my breath the whole time.

My recovery was cut short, however, as I pulled to a stop in front of Lexi's house and was almost literally dragged up the porch steps and through the door. All the while half hearing Lexi rant about how late I was, how much work there was to get done, and how much time we had left.

"Help me move this stuff back further!" She commanded, referring to the sofa and chairs in her family room. We shoved all three pieces of furniture a few feet back, creating more room between them and the big screen T.V.

"So, where's Teresa?" I asked, falling back onto the couch to rest for a minute.

Lexi replied with, "I have to go call her again!" Then she took off up the stairs to find the phone. Two minutes later she stormed back down, and announced, "She hung up on me! Can you believe her?"

I decided it best not to answer that.

As soon as Teresa arrived, we began to set things up. We covered the family room coffee table in bowls of popcorn and candy, a few liters of soda, a couple of board games, and several DVDs. Lexi brought out her entire collection of nail polishes, any hair accessory imaginable, and about eleven bottles of hair spray. Teresa and I watched with mild amusement as Lexi set each item on and around an end table.

We had it all ready in half an hour, but Lexi spent the remaining two hours fussing over every little detail and rearranging everything. The moment the doorbell rang, however, she forgot about the fact that the popcorn bowl didn't match her pajamas, and rushed up to the door in excitement.

Twenty minutes later about twelve more girls, all around the ages of fourteen or fifteen, occupied the family room. From the looks of it, Lexi hadn't actually invited as many girls as she said she would.

"Kay. I think that's everyone." Lexi decided, slowly glancing over the room at each person.

"Who else did you invite?" Star, a blonde freshman cheerleader, asked as she picked through Lexi's nail polishes.

"Chelsea Keller said she probably couldn't make it. And when I asked Brittany if she wanted to come, she didn't really act all that interested. I don't know if we'd want her here anyway." Lexi replied.

I noticed she had conveniently forgotten to invite Paulina and Valerie. Lexi may be the sort who craves popularity, but she also prefers to be the center of attention when it comes to things like this. If she had invited the two most popular girls in school, simply to get 'in' with them, Paulina would have taken over and done what ever she wanted, and Lexi knew this. Actually, Lexi would rather gain total popularity by herself instead of taking what little she'd get through a 'friendship' with two other girls.

Anyway, back to the party. We started off with some movies and games, you know, the regular stuff. Actually the first couple of hours were rather uneventful. We watched movies, ate pizza, talked about boys, did each others hair, had a pillow fight, talked about more boys, played truth or dare, listened to music, and talked about boys again. By the time eleven o'clock rolled around, we were out of things to do and on too much of a sugar high to even start thinking about sleep.

"We could talk about boys." One of the girls suggested as she hung upside down on the couch.

"No." Star protested after coating another girl's hair in spray. "We're all sick of hearing about your boyfriend, Jenny."

Several others mumbled agreements.

I glanced at the cards in my hand. "Got any three's?" I asked Hannah, a brunette sitting across from me in the small circle of girls.

"Go fish." She said with a slow, obviously bored tone. With a sigh, I reached out for the pile of cards in the center of our circle.

"Oh! Oh! I know!" Someone shouted suddenly. Eagerly, everyone turned their attention to a tall, black haired gal standing at the front of the room. She smirked, waving a pink flashlight at us all. "Let's play flashlight tag!"

Several girls stood up and began chattering excitedly, digging out their own flashlights. "Wait." Lexi called. "We can't, not in here anyways. The house isn't big enough, and if we break anything, my mom will kill me."

"So let's go out to the park." Said the girl who first suggested the game; I believe her name is Camryn. "It's just around the block. The forest would be perfect!"

You've probably got an idea of what went through my head in that moment. I froze, eyes wide, cards dropping from my hands. My heart was pounding, I'm sure my face lost some color. Mentally, I was hoping everyone would realize that this was a bad idea.

"That's a great idea!"

Next thing I know, I'm clutching my flashlight while Teresa drags me out the door, down the sidewalk, around the corner, and across the street with everyone else. Of course, no one happened to notice my odd behavior.

The air was cool, the sky was cloudless, stars twinkled nicely, and a full moon cast its soft white glow everywhere not lighted by a streetlight. Everywhere except the forest, which seemed to practically overflow with eerie darkness. A fact everyone but myself seemed oblivious to.

Rules were set, someone was chosen to be 'it', and everyone ran off into the trees. Before she could take off and leave me alone, I grabbed Teresa by the arm and whispered, "Do you think this is such a good idea? I mean, we have no clue what could be in there!"

"What's the matter, Kris? Afraid of the dark?" She teased. When she realized I was serious, however, she said, "There's nothing to worry about. It's not like we're out in the middle of nowhere! We'll be fine. Now, let's get in there and hide before Lauren comes out and tags us!" Then she took me by the wrist, and pulled me along into the trees.

I tried desperately to stay close to Teresa and anyone else around, but after the first couple minutes of paranoia and being scared out of my wits, I found myself alone in the middle of the small woods.

"Come on, Kris." I whispered to myself while creeping cautiously through the trees. "Everything will be fine. There's nothing to be afraid of. You can't let your wild imagination ruin the night. Just take a deep breath…" I inhaled, closed my eyes, held my breath for a brief moment, then exhaled and relaxed.

Something rustled behind me, interrupting my attempt at regaining some sanity. Instantly all the fears and worries leapt back into my mind as I turned and backed away from the large bush that had undoubtedly made the noise. My heart pounded, my mind raced, my breathing stopped, my hands were shaking uncontrollably. The bush rustled again. I tried to turn and run, but my legs were slow to respond. One more rustle, louder this time, and then… a bright light filled my vision, drowning the rest of the world in pure black.

"Gotcha! You're it, Kris!"

The colorful spots dancing across my vision prevented me from identifying whoever had just 'tagged' me, but as I realized what had happened I couldn't help but feel absolutely ridiculous.

"That's it." I scolded myself, my voice filled with determination. My fingers tightened their grip on the flashlight I'd dug out of my closet earlier, flicking the little switch to the 'on' position. "Let's have some fun."

And I did. For about fifteen wonderful minutes, I chased, tagged, ran, giggled, and hid. Eventually I came across Lexi, who was sneaking around quietly. I hopped out at her from behind a tree. "Boo!"

She jumped, saw that it was just me, and glared, but smirked at the same time. "Very funny, Kris. Listen, I think we should head back to my place. My parents won't be too happy if they wake up to check on us, and find we've all left without letting them know."

I nodded. "Okay. Let's go round everyone up." My flashlight flicked back to life as I pushed the switch again. "You wanna split up, or should we search… together… Lexi? Are you okay?"

Lexi was backed up against a tree, seemingly frozen in that spot. Her eyes were bulging; her face had lost some color. With a shaking hand she pointed just past me, and squeaked, "Behind you!"

I put my hands on my hips, and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, uh-huh, sure. You're not going to get me that easi…"

My sentence was interrupted by an echoing growl coming from just behind me. Startled, I spun around quickly to find the origins of the sound. I found myself staring into two large, bright red, glowing eyes that I recognized immediately. They were the same horrifying eyes of the green blob-like creature I'd seen several weeks earlier.

I screamed, Lexi screamed, the thing snarled. It crouched, no doubt preparing to pounce on me. After seeing it this second time I noticed the thick tufts of lime green fur, fangs as long as my finger protruding from its bottom lip, and short arms equipped with three claws on each stubby hand. All though, I didn't notice these things right then as I was too busy screaming and stumbling backwards as fast as I could manage.

And I tripped. Life can be very cruel at times. I'm positive it let that tree root grow out of the ground in that exact spot for the soul purpose of making me fall at that very moment. My eyes shut as I fell backwards to the ground and didn't bother to continue my retreat, figuring the thing would be on top of me in half a second. I opened my eyes again; it jumped at me, and was knocked in the side by an unidentified black and white streak.

I just sat there, propped up on my back, staring at where it had been only two seconds earlier. If it weren't for Lexi's screeching shouts, I'd have stayed there for an hour or more.

"OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH!" She shouted several times, so quickly it was almost impossible to understand what she was saying. After repeating that phrase about fifty times more, she finally moved on to screaming something else. "What was that thing? What did it want? Did you see that? We gotta get out of here! Are you okay, Kris?" She went on and on.

I blinked slowly, stood, took my ranting friend by the arm, and walked quickly in a random direction, hoping I was headed for the nearest forest end. We came across six other girls on our way out, and after noticing Lexi's episode they followed without more than a questioning look.

Soon we emerged from the trees, and found the other seven girls resting on and around a picnic table. Teresa was among them, and the moment she laid eyes on Lexi (who was still raving like crazy and almost in tears, and who I still held by the arm) she rushed to our side.

"What? What happened? What's wrong?" She asked quickly, extremely concerned.

I let Lexi's arm go, and grabbed Teresa in a big hug. She helped support me as I'd hoped she would, I was too shocked to continue standing on my own. Lexi must've had the same problem, she collapsed to her knees, panting heavily but finally silent. The rest of the girls crowded around us, asking questions that we ignored.

Just when I thought it was all over, someone shouted, "Oh my gosh! What is that?" Everyone looked at the girl who'd shouted first, then turned in the direction she was pointing.

I hadn't really wanted to look, but did anyway, directing my eyes to a place in the air several yards above the forest. As I'd suspected, there was the mystery beast, hovering in mid air. It was looking into the trees below it, as if searching for something it'd lost. Five seconds later another black and white streak rammed it from behind, knocking the creature back down into the trees. The other thing paused in the air for a millisecond, and then dove down after the green blob thing.

"Let's get out of here." Teresa said firmly, helping Lexi off the ground and pulling our dazed selves in the direction of Lexi's house. Everyone else followed without protest. As we rounded the corner I took one last glance back at the trees, just in time to see a blue-white flash of light.

Once we were back inside, Lexi and a few of the more paranoid girls proceeded to lock all doors and windows. The noise they made woke Mr. and Mrs. Burks, who insisted rather forcefully that we all get to bed immediately, after Lexi went on another rant fest to them both. Gratefully I unrolled my sleeping bag and zipped it up around me. I was asleep almost instantly.

The high, cheery, and fairly annoying voice belonging to Lexi's mother woke us the next morning. "Rise and shine sleeping beauties! It's nine a.m. Everyone feeling better today?"

Everybody answered with exhausted or grumpy groans and growls. Several girls, including myself, pulled blankets or pillows over our heads to block out the light and sounds of morning. I was far from ready to face the day.

Mrs. Burks, however, is very persistent. She ushered everyone up for some breakfast (which was probably the highlight of the morning), then sent all twelve zombie-like girls back to their homes to be dealt with by their own parents. Teresa and I stayed behind to help Lexi clean up.

We swept, vacuumed, scrubbed, sprayed, organized, and pushed the family room furniture back to their rightful positions. Teresa, being the clean freak and perfectionist that she is, worked hard and quickly. Lexi and I, on the other hand, were unfocused and still recovering from the night before. In fact, the moment Lexi's mom left the room, that very incident was finally brought up in conversation.

"What do you think that was?" Lexi said quietly, knowing her mother would not be pleased to hear about the 'monster in the park' from her daughter again.

"What do I think what was?" Teresa asked, though I'm sure she knew what Lexi was talking about.

"You know… the thing… last night."

"Oh. That."

I remained silent, content with simply listening to them while I swept away the remains of a dumped popcorn bowl.

"I don't know what it was." Teresa continued. "I didn't see much of it. You were closer, weren't you? What exactly happened?"

"Kris and I were just standing there and it started to attack us!" Lexi answered, tying a black garbage bag. Lexi tends to exaggerate a bit when she's excited.

Teresa is well aware of that fact. She raised an eyebrow, and asked with a hint of doubtfulness "It attacked you?"

"Well… almost. It nearly jumped on Kris, but that other thing knocked it away."

They went on for a while, just going over what happened again. Nothing really important was discussed until Lexi asked, "How long do you think it's been there? In the park?"

"I dunno. Couldn't have been too long, right? Someone would have noticed it before."

"I did." I spoke finally. "And Cal did. And some lady last week, I think."

My friends were silent for a moment or so. "You'd seen it before last night?" Lexi asked.

I nodded. "Several weeks ago. Cal saw it a few days before me. Or, at least, I'm pretty sure he saw the same thing."

Another pause, then Teresa asked, "Why didn't you say something before?"

I shrugged, stacking a bunch of dirty dishes into neat piles. "Would you have believed me?"

"Yes." Teresa said.

"No." Lexi answered at the same time.

A third silence, this one even longer than the other two. After a minute more of quiet working, Teresa looked at me again. "What do you think it was?"

"Nothing good." I replied with another shrug, and then carried the dishes up the stairs and to the kitchen, not wanting to go on talking about it any longer.

**xxxxx**

"Kris? Is something wrong?" My mother asked the moment I stepped in the door, her motherly instincts instantly detecting I wasn't myself.

"Everything's fine, Mom. I just stayed up real late last night, and I need some rest. That's all." I lied. I absolutely hate keeping stuff like this from her, but I still hadn't gotten around to filling her in on what happened at the dance. There's no way she'd understand the park incident.

She hugged me and gave me a small kiss on the forehead. "Okay then. Go take a nap. I'll call you down for lunch."

"Thanks Mom." I forced a smile and headed for my room.

Crashing on the bed without even bothering to pull back the sheets, I shut my eyes and tried to drown out the world. It's what was going on inside my head that was the problem, however, as I soon discovered it impossible to shove aside all these thoughts and questions I had about what had happened.

Or more importantly, what was happening. First that meat monster attacks the school, or started to though I'm not sure what stopped it. Then the dragon also attacks the school, and quite possibly the mall. That green creature has apparently been lurking in the forest for nearly two months or more. All three of them had that faint, yet extremely eerie glow (I didn't see the dragon personally, but Teresa and Brad made it quite clear that the beast was definitely glowing). All three had attacked something in some way, even if damage was so small that myself and my friends seemed to be the only ones noticing it.

Then there was that other thing at the park that night, the black and white thing that I assume was fighting with the green monster. I was too dazed to pay much attention to it then, but thinking back on it again I could recall more detail.

It had been humanoid, I think, and possibly male. Dressed in black and white, with matching white hair, also glowing. As quickly as I'd seen it… er, him… he was gone again, so that's all I had. Well, that and the fact that he was fighting the creature, and had saved me (whether the rescue was intentional or not).

It was all so overwhelming and hard to understand, that I couldn't manage to even doze a bit. I needed to get it all off my chest, to talk with someone. I was just considering if I should go speak with my mother, when there was a couple light knocks on my door.

The door opened without my reply. "Kris?" A ten-year-old voice said quietly. "When you're done sleeping, will you take me to the park?"

A weak smile spread across my face as I sat up to see my younger brother. "Cal, we need to talk."

* * *

Author's Note: Yay! I updated on time! Actually, I was gone all day Saturday and thought I wouldn't make it. Then I got home real late and finished the story despite the fact that I was falling asleep at my keyboard. Next chapter might be a while, I'm afraid. NaNo starts very soon, andI've not got chapter four planned as well as I should. So I appologize in advance if it doesn't show up until December. At least you've been warned.

Now, to my reviewers:

**Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet-** Ack! I went back to watch the episode again. I totally missed the 'Dance Tomorrow' sign behind Tucker at the beginning. Thanks for pointing that out. I've added a little note to the beginning of chapter two. I've got to pay more attention :( Thanks so much.

**Sukira-chan-** Thank you! I'm not exactly making a chapter for each episode. Some of the episodes have nothing to do with the rest of the town, after all. (Like Bitter Reunions, or Maternal Instinct.) Thank you for reviewing!

Wow. A whole two people. Come on, ya'll. I know you're out there. You have no idea how much a simple comment can do for me. Please review!

Anyway, see you next time. Whenever that may be.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. Kris and co.are mine. Blah blah blah. Oh, also, there are a couple references to Smallville/Superman and Spongebob Squarepants, and maybe a few other things, so I figure I better mention that I don't own any of those either. Just Kris and her friends and family.

* * *

"Are you sure you saw it?" Ben asked with all seriousness, rather than using the mocking tone that had been used when discussing these incidents in the past.

"Yes." Teresa and I replied at the same time.

Lexi paused for a minute, messing with her hair. "No." She answered.

"What do you mean 'No'? You said so yourself, if almost attacked you!" Teresa voiced exactly what I'd been thinking. We both gave her a questioning, and slightly upset, look.

"Come on girls. You don't actually believe we saw some monster creature." She answered with an eye roll.

"Uh, yeah. We do. Why don't you?" I asked.

She sighed, glanced off to the side, gave a flirty wink to some guy walking past, and then replied, "I think we just had too much sugar Friday night. Made us hallucinate or something."

"You think that, or your parents do?" Teresa sounded a bit frustrated. "And we did not have very much sugar. Your mom wouldn't have allowed it."

Lexi glared at this. "My parents have nothing to do with it." She answered, though I must say that I didn't really believe that. "And maybe it wasn't the sugar, it could have been something else we ate. I thought the cola tasted odd, anyway."

"It tasted odd because it was _diet_ cola. Your mother just removed the label, thinking we wouldn't know the difference." Teresa pointed out, sounding even tenser.

"Listen, you can believe this magic and fairy tale junk all you want, but I" Lexi began, but Teresa stopped her.

"Who said anything about magic?" She snapped.

"Well what else could it be? Other than a hallucination."

"Maybe it was mutated from radioactivity or something." Ben chimed in.

Lexi rolled her eyes again, still glaring a bit. "You watch too many cartoons, Ben."

I could see things getting real bad, real fast. "Hey!" I called. "Guys, calm down. There's no reason to argue over this."

"You're right, Kris." Lexi agreed, though her tone was somewhat snobby. She stood, lifting her lunch tray from the table the four of us were seated at. "There's no reason to argue, because there's no such thing as monsters. It was all in your imaginations. And until you all can accept that, I'll be eating my lunch with some of my _other_ friends." She marched away then, leaving a very upset Ben and Teresa behind.

"Ugh, she's such a pain, sometimes." Teresa growled.

I sighed, "No. She's just… opinionated." Keeping my friends together is difficult sometimes, but somebody's got to do it.

"She's annoying, that's what she is." Ben grumbled.

It was Wednesday, around lunchtime as you've probably guessed, and we had just finished relating our story to Ben. He'd been sick since Sunday, so we hadn't had the chance to tell him about the slumber party. Lexi, Teresa, and I had recounted the whole ordeal to Brad (who was currently receiving punishment for talking out in class), but Lexi's opinion of the incident seems to have changed over the past two days.

And because of that, three of my friends aren't too happy with each other. We've had problems before, no true friendship doesn't. All this means is that we'll be seeing less of Lexi for a short while, two or three weeks at the most. She'll come around eventually, and everyone will forget about the whole thing.

In fact, only a few minutes later Ben and Teresa had already gotten over the problem, and moved back to what we were discussing earlier.

"So, what did it look like, again?" Ben asked, his serious tone back again.

"Well I didn't see it as well as Kris. She's seen it twice." Teresa said before finishing her mashed potatoes.

"You saw it again?" My friend shouted, surprised.

I gave an annoyed sigh. "Yes. I saw it several weeks ago in the park. Cal saw it too. But, honestly, I'd rather not describe that thing _again_."

"Well then, what do you think it was?" Ben continued.

"I have no idea. Cal thinks these are all signs of an alien invasion or something." I said, laughing a little at the suggestion.

Ben considered this for a moment. "That's possible." He nodded. Teresa and I gave him odd looks.

"Maybe you do watch too many cartoons, Ben." Teresa joked and we all laughed.

Just then, a white blur rushed past our table, followed by a larger red blur and Dash's angry voice shouting "You're dead, Fenton!" That exclamation was enough to determine what was going on. Dash chasing Danny… again.

"Think they'll ever learn to get along?" I asked, watching the two boys take off around the corner and out of sight.

"Doubt it." Teresa answered, pushing a small pile of peas around her lunch tray with a spork. "This is Dash we're talking about. He's spoiled and stubborn, and gets what he wants. And for some reason, he really wants to pummel Danny."

"Speaking of Fenton…" Ben started, a somewhat teasingly evil glare in his eyes. "You hear what he did at the Zoo the other day?"

Teresa's blue eyes brightened and shot up from her lunch tray to meet Ben's gray ones. "What? What happened?" She asked excitedly.

"He and his friends snuck into the cage of some rare gorilla. Said they were studying it for some school project."

"The Purple Back Gorilla?" I spoke up, not much interested in the actual conversation. Ben simply shrugged.

"Seriously?" Teresa pressed. "How close did they get to him?" She loves this kind of thing, gossip and such.

"Close enough for Fenton to figure out that the monkey wasn't a he, but a she."

Both of my friends then began to laugh rather loudly. I'll admit the news was interesting in a slightly amusing sort of way, but they were laughing for a different reason. I knew what would come as soon as they could catch their breath, and hoped to change the subject before that could happen.

"Gorillas aren't monkeys." My pathetic attempt to distract them wasn't even heard, and they continued.

"He's a regular Jane Goodall." Ben chuckled.

"Or Doctor Doolittle. Maybe he can tell me what's wrong with my cat." Teresa giggled.

The mocking would continue for a while, probably drifting to Danny's friends as well. I sighed, pushed my lunch tray out of the way, and let my head drop to the table. I wasn't trying to attract attention to myself, but that's how it turned out.

Teresa's half of the laughter stopped abruptly. "You okay, Kris?" She asked, somewhat concerned.

I sat up again, focusing on a tree a short distance away. "You guys… you shouldn't talk about people like that." I answered, slightly afraid of what their reaction might be.

Ben's chuckling died down. "Come on, Kris." He said with a smile. "It's just for fun, not like we're saying any of this to their faces."

"Oh, so that makes it alright?" I remarked sarcastically.

Teresa and Ben fell silent, their smiles vanished, and they looked from me to each other, then back to me. Ben squirmed uncomfortably, and Teresa's eyes held a hint of guilt.

She sighed sadly. "No. It doesn't. You're right, Kris."

"Yeah…" Ben agreed, looking down at his lunch tray. A moment passed before he looked up again, this time with a mischievous smirk. "We can still talk about each other though, right? As friends?"

"I don't see why not. Haven't we always?" I answered, suspicious of what he was thinking. "All though, with the recent scene with Lexi, I think it would be best if you didn't tease her until things get sorted out again."

His smirk grew. "Well then Saint Kristina, do you plan on finishing your grapes?"

I glared playfully. "No. You can have them." I then proceeded to toss three or four grapes at him, pelting him on the head.

Brad walked up then, carrying a lunch tray piled with food. He laughed at our mini food fight as Ben began to return fire with his carrots. "Careful guys, you wouldn't want to pull a Fenton from a few weeks ago. I hear he's still on thin ice with Lancer. Hey! Speaking of Fenton, did you guys here,"

"Yes." Teresa, Ben, and I said at the same time, and a bit louder than we maybe should have.

"Okay, okay! Gosh. What was that all about?"

I sighed in frustration, setting my head on the table again. Teresa patted my shoulder and whispered that she'd talk to him later. I thanked her silently with a smile. She turned to our other friend and looked at his meal. "Wow, Brad. You think you've got enough food to last the winter? How do you plan to eat all that when lunch is half over?"

Brad responded by shoving three large forkfuls of spaghetti into his mouth, chewing maybe two or three times, and then swallowing the whole mouthful in one big gulp.

"Ew!" "Oh, gross!" "Yuck!" Teresa and I shouted. Ben just laughed, first at Brad then at our reaction. He then went ahead and began shoveling heaping spoonfuls of mashed potatoes into his own mouth.

Teresa winced, then glared. "If you two are going to sit here and be disgusting, we're leaving." We both stood up and stepped over the benches, taking our nearly empty trays with us. Brad tried to protest, but his mouth was too full to make any sense of it.

**xxxxx**

My mom, brother, and I have set up a system over time, a certain way things happen that doesn't really change without a very important reason. You've already witnessed some of this, especially our morning routines. It's not like this is a major thing or that I'm dependent on it. After all, Mom's work schedule keeps anything from being set in stone. But I do like to know when something is changed, and in most cases I usually do.

Let me get to my point. Everyday after school, I meet Cal at the bus stop and we walk home together. If there is some reason he won't be there waiting for me, my mom calls the school and makes sure I get a message or note to let me know.

However, when I got off the bus today I found the bus stop corner devoid of a certain ten-year-old little brother. As you've probably figured, I had not received any warning of this, and was a bit worried. Okay, so actually I was very worried, but can you honestly blame me?

When I first noticed he was gone, I had thought he might be just around the corner playing in Ms. Henderson's backyard with Joey. So I said bye to Ben and Teresa, and went to check it out. He wasn't there, and Ms. Henderson hadn't seen him. That's when I started to worry.

So I ran home, hoping he'd be there waiting on the porch for me to come find him and unlock the front door. All the way back to the house, I was worrying and wondering what to do if I couldn't find him. What if he'd been kidnapped? What if he missed his bus and tried to walk home, and got lost? (It never occurred to me that he may have just missed the bus and was waiting at the school for Mom or I) What if he got hurt? I couldn't help but let a few scary images of glowing monsters mix with all the other fear and worry.

He wasn't sitting on the porch. By now my stomach was doing flips, and not good flips like when I get excited. I decided to go inside and call my mom. She'd know what to do. I got out my house key, put it into the keyhole, and realized the door was already unlocked.

I walked inside, assuming Mom had forgotten to lock it again. Before I could even begin to search for the phone, I stumbled over the red and orange backpack belonging to Calvin.

"Hey, Kris." My younger brother greeted me, smiling with a mouth covered in peanut butter and jelly.

"Calvin!" I exclaimed, half relieved, half ticked off. "What are you doing here?"

"Eating." He answered, holding up a half finished sandwich.

I slipped my backpack off and looked at him a minute, not sure whether to hug him or scold him. "You're supposed to wait for me at the bus stop. I was worried."

He shrugged. "Joey stayed home sick today, so I was bored waiting for you. And I was hungry. So I came home." He took another bite of the sandwich.

I managed to keep my temper under control, taking a moment to calm down and change the subject. "How'd you get inside? Did Mom forget to lock the door again?"

"Nah, I used the key under the flower pot."

"That key is for emergencies only."

"This was an emergency. I was hungry."

I sighed, setting both our backpacks in the closet where they go. "You did put it back under the pot, right?" After a second thought, I pulled the backpacks out again.

"Yes. What're you doing?" He finished his sandwich and knelt down next to me as I began fishing through his bag.

"Where's your homework? How can you find anything in this mess?" I said, pulling out several old papers and garbage. I removed a brown paper sack and peeked inside. Immediately, I closed it again, making a face. Well, now we know what happened to that sack lunch Calvin lost three weeks ago.

Cal began to dig in with me. "I think I put my homework on this side…"

"You're lucky Teresa isn't here. She'd have a fit about this mess. Then she'd start lecturing you about cleanliness and organization." I chuckled.

We spent five minutes or so digging through his bag, and doing a little organizing. After throwing away a good chunk of the old, unneeded papers, we finally found his homework. I got mine out as well, and we settled at the kitchen table with some of the chocolate chip cookies I'd made the day before.

While I wrestled with some math problems, Cal spoke up. "See anything else today?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked and took a bite of a cookie.

"You know." He replied. "Anything, er… _special_."

It took me a minute to realize that by special he meant glowing or floating for unnatural reasons. "No." I answered simply, not much interested in the topic. Then I had a second though. "Did you?"

"No." He said in disappointment. "Maybe we could go to the park today and,"

"I don't think so, Cal. Besides, it's probably gone by now."

"Yeah. I'll bet that other thing kicked its butt."

He was referring to the floating, glowing, black and white streak that had supposedly saved me and then went on to fight the park beast. Cal seems convinced the thing was, or is, good rather than evil. I don't know how he figures that. He didn't even see it. He only knows what I told him, and I hardly saw it myself.

I was silent, still avoiding the subject. Not to mention I was on a particularly difficult math problem.

"What do you think is causing all this?" He asked curiously.

"I thought you said it was aliens." I replied absently. What is seven times twelve again? Oh yeah…

Cal then went off on some complicated story about extraterrestrials and alien experimentation and recent abductions. I missed the majority of it, but as soon as he finished I looked up and smirked, "Cal, I really doubt this has anything to do with green rocks from outer space."

"I'm serious Kris! There have been six known incidents with these glowy things. Something is going on around here." Calvin whined at my sarcastic attitude.

I was just about to chuckle at how cute he was when he tried to act really smart, when I actually thought about what he said. Six incidents? Had there really been that many? Cal sees the park monster, I see the park monster, then there was the meat thing at school, some other lady supposedly sees the park beast, Teresa and Brad see the dragon, and then what happened during the slumber party. Of course I knew each thing was something serious, I just hadn't realized how serious. All of this had happened in only a little over a month.

I glanced up from my homework, finally giving Calvin a serious glance.

An hour later we were still deep in discussion while we loaded the dishwasher with things from breakfast.

"If they are all a bunch of science experiments on the loose, shouldn't there be something hunting after them? Like the scientists who lost control, or some government dudes in black suits and sunglasses?"

No matter how hard Cal tries to be serious, he still ends up sounding like a ten-year-old with a wild imagination. Which is okay, because that's what he is.

I laughed and shook my head at his question. "Yeah, I guess there should be something out looking for these things. We can't be the only ones who've noticed all this. And it's really possible that,"

At that moment the front door opened up and we could hear Mom walk into the house. "It can't be a _real_ pineapple that he lives in, Cal. It would rot after a while." I said naturally, as if it were what we'd been talking about the whole time.

My amazingly intelligent younger brother caught on to the subject change immediately. "That still doesn't explain how it got under the sea."

"Hey kids!"

"Hey, Mom." My brother and I replied at the same time.

"How was work?" I asked, closing the dishwasher and turning it on.

Mom set her keys down in their place and pulled her hair out of the bun I'd pulled it into earlier. "Can't complain." She said with a sigh, leaning back in a kitchen chair. "What happened at school today?"

"Nothing." Cal answered, clearing the table of his homework (and unceremoniously shoving it all into his backpack again).

I wiped off the counter with a wet cloth. "Lexi got into another little quarrel with Ben and Teresa today."

"Oh dear. What about?"

I hesitated for a moment, and then shrugged. "The usual. She doesn't agree with something they said. You know the drill."

"So it's nothing serious then?" Mom asked, taking a bottle of water from the fridge and chugging quite a bit down.

"Nah. It'll all blow over in a week or two. Maybe sooner."

"That's good."

No, I haven't told my mom about any of the weirdness. I know I should have, like, forever ago. But it's just so hard. First there's finding the right time to do it, then there's finding the right way to do it. And who knows how she'll take it? Can you blame me for being so slow?

I had actually been planning on letting her know in a few days. But something else came up…

**xxxxx**

"Then he totally barfed it all up three minutes later." Ben finished his story. Both boys began a round of roaring laughter, while Teresa and I just groaned. My friend pushed her cheeseburger to the side, in front of Brad, who began eating it like nothing had happened.

"Lovely story, Ben." I said sarcastically. "Can we change the subject now?"

Brad swallowed a bite of burger, and then said, "Looks like Dash is handing out the invites to his party. Isn't it tomorrow?"

"Yep." Teresa said. "So, what are _we_ doing Saturday night?"

"Movie?" Ben suggested.

"No… there's nothing good out." I said.

"Isn't Dead Teacher IV supposed to be out sometime soon?"

"Not soon enough."

"We haven't been to the roller skating rink in a while…"

My friends continued to ramble off different ideas. I let my gaze wander around the Nasty Burger restaurant. On one side of the room many kids I recognized from school were crowded around Dash Baxter and a few of the other 'popular' kids. Paulina, Kwan, and Valerie to name a few. Lexi was among them, hanging close to the star football player who was the center of attention.

I reached for my cup and put the straw to my lips as I watched Lexi with mild interest. When nothing but a slurping noise came from the cup, I lifted its lid to find I'd run out of soda. "Hey guys, I'll be right back. I need a refill." I said, standing up and heading for the drink spouts.

While adding a couple more pieces of ice to my cup, I found the brown-eyed face of my estranged friend there next to me. "Hey Kris. Sorry about yesterday. I just want you to know, that I don't hold anything against you. Honestly, it's Ben and Teresa who have the issues."

Yeah, that makes me feel so much better. I fought the urge to tell her off, and decided it might be best if I just tried to make peace. "Um… yeah. Well, we miss having you around."

Lexi ignored the 'we' part and figured I meant I missed hanging out with her. Of course, Ben and Teresa were still a little bitter toward her, so that may have been true. "Well you can always hang with me and my other friends. I think if you tried hard enough, you could really pass off as popular material."

In Lexi Language, that's a compliment. I just forced a smile and nodded politely. "Uh… thanks. But I,"

"Hey Lexi!" Dash's voice cut into our conversation from behind. We both turned to face the boy.

"Yeah?" She flashed a flirty smile.

Dash handed her a purple piece of paper. "I'll see you at my party Saturday, right?"

She giggled with a ridiculous and completely fake 'shy girl' act. "Yeah… I'll be there… but," she swung one arm around my shoulders in a half hug. "What about, Kris?"

"Uh… sure. Why not? The more the merrier, right?" Dash winked at my friend, handed me one of the purple papers, and walked off to continue handing out the invitations.

I stared at the paper with mixed feelings, thinking 'Kay, what just happened?'

Lexi cut into my thoughts. "See? You're getting noticed already. Now if we could just do something with your hair, and get the right shade of eye shadow… you'll be right up there on the social food chain with me in no time."

Did I like this? At the time, I wasn't entirely sure. Yes, it's nice to be noticed, and there aren't many people out there who don't crave at least a little popularity. But isn't that what I already had? A little was good enough for me. Besides, I had great friends, who were really my friends. Honestly, by 'popularity' standards, your friends are only friends if they had as much money, or looked as good as you did.

Lexi continued, not noticing my unsure expression. "This is great! We can use this party to boost your chances. I have this amazing outfit you can borrow just for the occasion. I'll do you hair and makeup. This will be awesome! And I,"

"Lexi! Get over here!" Someone called, and my friend smiled.

"Oops, gotta go. We'll talk tomorrow, okay?" She said quickly, and rushed off to meet one of her other friends.

I went back to the table where my other friends were seated. "What's up, Kris?" Teresa asked. She's always so observant.

I passed the invitation to her. Brad looked over her shoulder to see. "You got invited! How awesome is that?" He shouted.

"Only 'cause Lexi was standing next to me and making eyes at Dash." I said, rolling my eyes.

"So what? You're not going then?" Ben asked, taking the paper from Teresa so he could read it.

"I don't know…"

Teresa saw what was wrong. Gotta love that girl. "Come on, Kris. Don't decide you're not going just because we won't be there."

"That's not the only problem. If I do go, it would be for Lexi, to try and keep peace with her. Maybe I could convince her to forget about Wednesday." I said, playing with my fries.

"Then do that." Teresa shrugged.

I sighed. "I just… don't think this party is my thing, you know?"

"No kidding." Brad chuckled. This got him Teresa's elbow shoved between his ribs, as well as an upset glare. He quickly cleared his throat, and covered with, "Uh, you're too good for those parties."

Teresa was satisfied with this. "Well you never know, Kris. It could be fun." She added.

"Maybe… we'll see." I said, staring at the invitation Ben had returned to me.

We all got up to leave then. After throwing away our trash, Brad called out in surprise. "Dude, I think Dash just gave Fenton one of those invites."

"What!" exclaimed Ben, Teresa, and myself. Well, that was a surprise.

Which brings us to Saturday afternoon.

Really quick I think I'll tell you where my friends and I all live in relation to each other. First thing, we're all too far from Casper High to even think of walking to school. Except for Brad, he lives just inside the bus boundaries, meaning if he ever misses the bus he'll just sprint over to the school at top speed. Lexi lives several blocks away from him, and (as I've mentioned before) just one block away from the park, which is a short bike ride from my place. Ben and Teresa are across the street from each other, and around the corner from me. Do you understand all that?

Good, now back to the story. Ben, Teresa, and I had just left Brad's house after an unsuccessful study party (we all had a major science test coming up). My perfectionist, Hispanic best friend was not in the best of moods because of how badly the studying had gone, not to mention the fact that Ben and Brad continued their game of 'gross out the girls' that had been going on all week. Lets just say I won't be eating anything cream filled for a while.

Teresa glared straight ahead, ignoring Ben's teasing laughter and comments while grumbling to herself about many different things. I walked alongside her, carrying my backpack and nodding silently each time she ranted in my direction. When Teresa is like this, it's best just to let her rant.

We were planning on stopping at a nearby fast food place for a quick snack and to wait for Ben's mom to pick us up and take us home. I still had not decided whether I was going to the party with Lexi or not, and it was really bugging me. My friends all seemed convinced I should go, and that I'd have a good time, but I wasn't so sure.

My cell phone rang suddenly, and I had to stop in order to fish it out of my backpack. (The phone was my mom's old one. She'd decided it might be a good idea for me to have one after I had to use a pay phone to call her way back during the meat monster incident.)

The screen displayed Lexi's cell phone number, and I rolled my eyes in slight annoyance. I was only supposed to use the phone for emergencies, she knew that! I flipped it open anyway, putting it to my ear. "Quick, Lexi." I sighed.

"Coming or not?"

"Don't know yet…"

"You should! Have fun!"

"Well…"

"Food, people, A.J., games… fun,"

"Whoa! Wait a second… What was that?" I nearly shouted, forgetting about shortening our conversation to save minutes.

I could almost hear her smirking over the phone as she forgot to speak in small sentences as well. "There'll be lots of food, tons of great people, awesome games, it'll all be a lot of fun, and…"

"Lexi!" I said impatiently.

"…And I heard A.J. and his gang are going to be there too." When all she got as an answer was stunned silence, she continued. "I'll stop by your house in a couple hours to help you get ready. Buh bye!"

I heard her phone click off, heard Teresa saying my name a couple times, and felt her remove the cell from my hands, close it, and return it to my backpack. She stood in front of me and smiled. "I know that longing, dreamy, spaced-out stare. Have fun tonight, okay?"

"Okay…" I said finally, and then broke into an excited giggle. Teresa joined me, while Ben gave a fake gag. Serves him right.

We decided to hurry the rest of the way to the fast food place, but we got a little side tracked. As we rounded a corner, we found several people wandering around in front of a house. At the time, I didn't really realize the place was a house, mainly because of the flashing neon signs and the big, round, metal hunk of hardware perched on top of the building. The sign read "Fenton Works." A white banner hung across the building, reading "Giant Garage Sale" and a few tables were set up in front of it. These tables were practically buried in piles of things, mostly electronic devices. Danny Fenton, as well as his friends Tucker and Sam, stood behind the tables, apparently running things.

"What's going on here?" Ben asked.

Teresa snorted. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe a garage sale?" She pointed to the banner, and laughed at him.

He ignored her. "So this must be Danny Fenton's house." He said.

"I wonder what gave you that idea." Teresa continued.

I just laughed at my friends and went to take a look around.

A lot of the stuff was just parts, pieces, and chunks of other things. This seemed odd to me at first, but then I remembered that Mr. and Mrs. Fenton were inventors and scientists and that sort of thing. (I forget what it is they specialize in. It's something really… eh… different, I remember that much.)

I picked through some of the things, as did Teresa and Ben, though I didn't find much that interested me. For a moment I glanced up, and noticed Tucker Foley sitting in a chair across the tables and a little into the alley between houses. He smiled and waved in a friendly way. "Hey, Kristina!"

"It's Kris." I corrected before returning the greeting and then going back to my search.

"Oh…" Teresa cooed. I turned to see what she'd found. She was inspecting a pretty decent VCR. "Check this out. I could use a VCR, and this looks like it's in one piece. Unlike the rest of this stuff." She gestured with a hand at the piles of spare parts.

"Good. Then get it." Ben said with a bored tone. "I don't see anything I like." He whined. "And I'm starving. Let's get going."

I sighed. "I don't see anything either. Come on, lets," I stopped then as I noticed a little white something half buried in other junk. Without explaining to my friends, I dug the object out to inspect it. "Hey!" I said happily, holding up a little, battery powered hand mixer (like, for cooking). "I've needed another of these for a while. My last wore out from excessive use…"

"Does this mean we'll be seeing your Famous Grasshopper Brownies again?" Ben asked. No, he wasn't kidding about the grasshopper part, or about liking them.

I turned the little white mixer over, only to find a good section of the covering on one side was missing, with wires and things completely exposed. "That's got safety hazard written all over it…" Teresa said.

"Yeah…" I gave a disappointed sigh and set the thing down again. "Too bad."

"Something wrong?"

We all looked up to see Danny standing across the table from us. Ben held up the mixer. "I don't suppose you have any hand mixers that work?" he asked eagerly. He really wanted those brownies.

"This one should work fine." Danny said, taking the white mixer from Ben and inspecting the open side. "At least, it did before my parents tried to turn it into a proto-type for one of their guns…" He added.

I raised an eyebrow and gave a questioning glance to Teresa, who just shrugged. Danny turned to a box behind him, and fished around in it for a moment. When he turned back, he had a white piece of plastic the same shape as the missing piece to the mixer. He snapped it into place, and flipped the switch to setting three. Instantly the beaters whirred to life, spinning like any other mixer's beaters should.

"Well, it's not blowing up, so it should be perfectly fine." He assured us, turning the mixer off again and handing it to me.

"Thanks. I'll take it." I said with a shrug.

About an hour later I was back home carefully washing the mixer (Teresa pointed out a few spots of green something-or-other, and insisted it be cleaned immediately) while listening to Cal recount his play date with Joey. Teresa was organizing the pantry, and Ben had had to go home for chores. Lexi had called only a few minutes earlier to let me know she'd be over in an hour and a half.

Calvin finished his story, and then asked, "So, see anything today?"

He'd been asking me the same thing every day since Wednesday. My answer was, thankfully, always the same. "Nope."

"Seen anything?" Teresa repeated. "What does he mean?"

"Anything _special._" I said simply. She understood what I meant without any problems.

"Nope… none of that. Thank goodness." Teresa said, and then went back to alphabetizing the soup cans.

The phone rang then, and since my hands were too wet to hold the receiver, I tapped the speaker button with my elbow.

"Carey residence." I greeted the caller. Checking caller ID is not a habit I've developed, so I never really know who it is until they tell me.

"Hey sweetie." Mom answered. "I'm just calling to let you know I'll be home around eleven tonight. Okay?"

"What!" I shouted. "Mom, the party!"

"What?"

I sighed in annoyance. "I told you yesterday! I got invited to this major party, and it's tonight!"

My mother let out a slight gasp, and then moaned a bit. "Oh, Kris, honey. I'm sorry, I completely forgot. I thought you said you weren't going to that…"

"I said I wasn't sure if I was or not. And you said you would be home either way."

"My schedule got changed last minute."

We both exhaled at the same time, frustration obvious in our voices. I said, "I'll just have to stay home." Honestly, I was both disappointed and relieved.

"I'm really sorry, Kris. But I can't really do anything now. I'll make it up to you, though. I,"

Teresa interrupted, "I can baby-sit Cal, Ms. Carey."

There was a bit of a pause as my mom thought this over. Then she answered, "That… sounds good to me. What do you think, Cal? Mind if Teresa watches you tonight?"

"Nah, that's fine." My brother shrugged.

"Alright then. I'll see you all late tonight. Remember your curfew, Kris."

"I will mom. Thanks. Bye." I said with false enthusiasm, and turned the phone off again.

Teresa gave me a satisfied look. "You're going. So there."

I just smiled and laughed a bit.

Brad and Ben showed up a little while later, deciding to hang out with Teresa and Cal since they had nothing better to do on a Saturday night. I'll admit it was really awkward for me to think that all my friends were going to be having fun at _my_ house while I was at someone else's, probably having no fun at all.

The doorbell announced Lexi's arrival, right on time as usual. Rather than waiting for someone to answer the door, she walked right in and called for me. I was in the kitchen at the time, along with my brother and other friends. As soon as I heard the bell and the opening door, I rounded the corner to the living room, and was in the doorway right as she called my name. Then I froze in my tracks.

There was Lexi's face and bossy personality, but it certainly wasn't Lexi's wardrobe. She was dressed in black, from head to toe, not a single other color in site. Well, other than her hair, which was streaked with red. Her eyes were thickly lined, she wore black lipstick, and… was that a nose ring?

It was a fake piercing of course, but just the shock of seeing the little silver ring attached to her face was enough to freak us all out.

"Lexi?" I practically shouted in surprise and confusion. "What… how… why are you dressed like that?"

She ignored our reactions and walked past everyone, grabbing me by the wrist and leading me up to my room. "The party's dress code was changed last minute. You won't believe how hard it was for me to find this stuff on such short notice."

"Dress code? Change? To what?" I stuttered. My eyes still hadn't left that little ring.

Lexi gently pushed me down to sit on the bed, then crossed to my closet and began rummaging through the different clothes. "Loser Chic. Now, let's find the geekiest clothes you've got."

I didn't like the sound of this, but before I could protest she had pulled out a brown plaid skirt and held it up to me. "Ooh, look at this thing. It's the perfect 'nerdy' skirt."

"I like that skirt!" I said, but Lexi didn't hear me. She had returned to the closet. A minute or two later she had removed a white dress blouse, some knee high stockings, and a pair of brown shoes I'd had to wear for a recent family portrait. Actually, the entire outfit looked like something meant for a family picture, or perhaps a school uniform.

Lexi threw it all at me, told me to change, then left the room for a few minutes. I groaned in frustration and put everything on. She came back just as I was slipping on the second shoe.

"Kay… we won't really need to do much with make-up. Unless you want a few fake zits?" She sat me down again and settled herself right behind me, beginning to brush my hair. "Some simple pigtail braids will have to do. Oh! With little bows on the ends. This'll be great."

Next thing I knew, my hair was pulled back into two clumsy braids, each fastened at the ends with a green ribbon bow. I still hadn't managed to get a word in with Lexi, at least not one that had been noticed. We were back in the living room, my friends all around me holding back laughter while I glared at them all.

"Now," Lexi said, fishing through a black purse. "For the finishing touch… put these on." She held out a pair of large, black, thick-framed glasses.

Rather than waiting for me to take them (not that I would've anyway) she put the things over my face and behind my ears. The lenses had been removed, so I could still see out of them.

Brad couldn't take this anymore, and he let out a couple chuckles.

Ben, instead of laughing at me, broke his strained silence (it had been obvious the entire time, that he was trying his hardest not to say anything to or about Lexi) and said, "Why do carry a pair of geek glasses in your purse anyway, Lexi."

"Oh who asked you?" She snapped, raising the already high tension in the room.

I decided dealing with my appearance was less important than keeping things calm between my friends. "Okay, Lexi. If you're done dressing me up, let's get going. We wouldn't want to be late, right?"

Lexi agreed and headed out the door, I followed after sending an unsure glance in Teresa's direction. She just shrugged and waved me off.

Mrs. Burks was waiting in the driveway with her car. She dropped us both off at the Baxter's, without a word to either Lexi or myself. I got the feeling that Mrs. Burks was not too pleased with Lexi's choice of clothing for the evening.

Despite the fact that we had left early, we arrived a bit late. Lexi's mother had gotten lost on the way. So once we got inside the place was already filling up, music was playing, and everyone was already having a good time.

I'd rather not go into detail about what they were all wearing. And there's really no sense in describing the first fifteen minutes of the party. You see, after we got there Lexi went off to chat with someone, leaving me to fend for myself. I wandered for a while, not really interested in starting a conversation with any of these people. For one, I doubted we'd have much to discuss, and for two, I really wasn't very happy with them anyway.

As I wandered through the kitchen and considered grabbing a handful of chips, I noticed the patio door was wide open, to let some fresh air in probably. So I went on out, feeling the need for some time alone.

I walked out and leaned against the wall next to the door, just staring at the night sky. I was only there for half a minute before a voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Kris? What're you doing out here?"

Trying my hardest not to act startled or embarrassed, I turned to the person. "Hey, A.J. I'm just… hanging out." I shrugged and motioned to the small backyard.

"Cool. Me too." He glanced around casually. "So… are you having a good time?"

I started to say something completely false like 'Oh yeah, it's awesome,' but decided to just stick with the truth. With a sigh, I answered, "No. I only came 'cause one of my friends was going to be here, but things really aren't that great."

"Yeah… this party isn't all it's cracked up to be. At least, not for our sort of people, huh?" He gave a half smile. I noticed then that he was dressed in his regular clothes, and my crush on him grew to about twice its previous size.

Just then, two more people wandered out the back door to join us. I recognized them immediately as Niki and Josh, A.J.'s two good friends.

Niki looked displeased. "Is it just me, or is this the dullest party we've ever been to? I mean, what kind of lame theme is 'Loser Chic' anyway?"

"Yeah," Josh nodded, chugging down a glass of soda. "I wish I had known this would be a costume party. I would've come dressed for the occasion."

The blonde girl turned to her friend and remarked with fake surprise, "You're not in costume?" We all laughed at the comment, while Josh just rolled his eyes. Niki turned to me then. "Hey, Kris. Long time no see. Cute skirt."

"Thanks." I said, glancing over the plaid thing again.

"Well, I don't know about you all…" the talkative sixteen year old girl continued, "But I'm ditching this place. Who's with me?"

"Yeah, why not? There aren't any good refreshments here anyway." Josh agreed, headed around the house for the street.

I thought about something for a moment as I watched the two begin to leave. "Could I, maybe, catch a ride home with you guys? I've had about enough popularity to last me a life time."

"Sure." Niki shrugged. "Come on, the car is this way."

"What about your friend?" A.J. asked.

I glanced back at the house. "Don't worry. I doubt that she'll even notice I've gone."

xxxxx 

"So… you just left? You didn't even tell her you were going?" Teresa asked while stirring some butter and melting chocolate chips in a saucepan on the stove.

"Yep." I sighed, dumping another half cup of powdered sugar into the mixing bowl next to me. I'd been home for forty-five minutes now, and immediately after arriving I'd started cooking. It helps me calm down.

The kitchen was full of the smell of freshly baked chocolate brownies, which were currently cooling in their pan on a counter. Teresa was, as I just mentioned, stirring and melting a pan of chocolate chips and some butter. I was about to mix together the sugar, butter, cream cheese, and mint syrup that makes up the filling for my Grasshopper Brownies. The mint is why they're called Grasshopper, you see. They really don't have anything to do with insects.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Lexi doesn't realize I wasn't there until after she sees me again on Monday." I said, picking up the, now clean, white hand mixer I'd bought earlier that day.

"Well, I'm sorry it didn't work out for you." Teresa said, scraping the melted chocolate into a separate bowl and leaving the now empty saucepan to cool.

"No, it's alright." I assured my friend. "I'm going to have fun eating brownies 'til I'm sick and watching movies with my friends and younger brother all night."

The boys came upstairs from the family room, then. "I smell brownies!" Ben said excitedly.

"Not yet, Benji." I smiled, using the full version of his first name. "We've still got to finish the filling and the frosting, put it all together, and then it has to sit in the fridge for an hour. You know that."

"Yes, _Kristina_, I know." Ben rolled his eyes, and sat at the table to pout. We all just laughed at him.

I set the mixing bowl of ingredients on a counter, and went to plug the mixer into the wall. Before I could get within inches of the outlet, the beaters suddenly spun to life and the whole thing started to shake in my hands. I shrieked and dropped it on the ground, jumping back. Everyone looked down at the little white machine as it spun wildly on the floor for a moment. A bright green glow surrounded the mixer, and it floated up off the ground.

At first everyone was frozen in fear, watching it with wide eyes. It turned around, almost as if it were looking around the room. The beater blades had stopped whirring, leaving the room in absolute silence. At least until Cal spoke.

"Whoa." My younger brother said, just as surprised as he was in awe. The glowing mixer turned suddenly to him, blades started spinning again, and it charged after him.

The next few seconds went a bit slow for me. When the mixer had first come to life, you remember, I had dropped it and jumped back. I happened to be next to the oven after that. The very instant I recognized that the thing was about to go after my little brother, instinct kicked in. I reached back behind me, gripped the handle of the saucepan Teresa had used earlier, and swung with all my might.

There were a couple loud cracking and banging sounds, then more silence, followed by another "Whoa" from Cal. The mixer was on the floor again, but it wasn't moving or glowing any more. It was now in two banged up pieces, lying there like any regular mixer might if someone had just smacked it with a pan. Speaking of which, the pan had a dent in it as well, and the bottom was scratched up a bit.

We all stood there stunned for a while. Then, silently, we cleaned up what mess had been made and finished preparing the brownies (I mixed the filling with a fork). After that we discussed what had just happened. I won't go into detail, since we really didn't say anything important. Actually, after throwing the mixer into a trashcan outside, everything went on as a regular Saturday night should.

There are only a few more important things to mention. My mom came home around eleven like she said she would, and asked about our night. We talked about the brownies, movies, jokes, and fun, but not a single thing was said referring to the crazy mixer.

Now that I think about it, there was one interesting comment made during our discussion about the attack of the mixer. Ben called it 'possessed' at one point, and the term just stuck. Before that, we had just figured it was caused by whatever experimentation Danny's folks had done to it.

The next day Teresa told us all about her missing VCR _and_ the television it had been hooked up to, as well as the broken window in the same room. Her parents figured it was a 'breaking and entering' type thing, and that both items had been stolen. But my friends and I have decided, that the mixer must not have been the only electronic device to develop a mind of it's own that night.

* * *

Author's Note: Whew! I am extremely sorry for all the wait. I said you wouldn't get anything in November, but we're already about two weeks into December, which means I'm two weeks behind. I've been extremely busy all this week, and should be doing something else right now, so I haven't really checked over this chapter for mistakes. I just really wanted to get it up as soon as possible. That's really lazy of me, I know. 

You might notice that I experimented with a couple things in this one. Italics in dialogue for one thing.Somesmall hints of character development here and there.This was also a very long chapter. It's the longest I've written so far, with chapter2 following close behind.

The next chapter is something like chapter 3: an original idea and incident, something that didn't happen in the actual series. You should be able to expect much more interaction between the main characters of DP and my characters, if all goes well. And hopefully, it'll be here within the next two weeks.

One more thing, Grasshopper brownies are the best desert food ever invented. Just thought I'd let you know.


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